
Class _:k 
Book 



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Copyright If. 



CDEmiGHT DEPOSm 



THE VICTORIOUS BANNER 
ALEXANDER R. GORDON, D.D. 



THE VICTORIOUS 
BANNER 

STORIES OF THE EXODUS 
RETOLD FOR YOUNG FOLK 

BY 

ALEXANDER R. GORDON, D.D. 

AUTHOR OF "THE ENCHANTED GARDEN," "THE POETS OF THE 

OLD TESTAMENT," "THE PROPHETS OF THE OLD 

TESTAMENT," ETC 




NEW ^Sr YORK 
GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY 



^> 



^ 



\ 



\ 



-3 



COPYRIGHT, 1 92 1, 
BY GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY 



SEP 29 1821 



PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATE3 OF AMERICA 



g)CU627031 



TO 

REV. ROBERT and MRS. URQUHART 



PREFACE 

The cordial welcome given to my stories from 
Genesis had led me to continue the series. The 
present book carries ns through the Exodus to the 
conquest of Palestine. We may not here move in 
so enchanted a region. But the tale is of the kind 
that young folk delight in, a tale of camps and 
marches and battles, full of dramatic incidents, 
with a rich bearing on life. 

I have taken the title from the name which 
Moses gave to the altar he set up at Rephidim: 
The Lord Is My Banner. Under this banner he 
fought and won. Under the same banner we also 
can fight and win. 



CONTENTS 



The Babe in the Basket [Exodus i.l-ii.4'] 

A Mother's Care [Exodus ii.5-9] . 

At School in Egypt [Exodus ii.10; Acts vii.22~] 

The Call of Country [Exodus U.11-1Z] 

A Gallant Knight [Exodus ii.13-17] . 

A Good Shepherd [Exodus ii.18-221 . 

The Burning Bush [Exodus iii.l-22~\ . 

A Rod in the Hand [Exodus iv.1-9] . 

Bricks Without Straw [Exodus iv.10-v.231 

The Ten Plagues [vii.l-xi.101 . . 

The Passover [Exodus xii.1-51] . . 

A Good Man's Bones [Exodus xiii.19] 

The Pillar of Cloud and Fire [Exodus xiii.20- 

Crossing the Sea [Exodus xiv.l-xv£l] 

Wells and Palms [Exodus xv.22-27] . 

Quails and Manna [Exodus xvi.1-36] 

The Uplifted Hands [Exodus xvii.1-13] 

The Lord My Banner [Exodus xvii.l4-17~\ 

The Voice of the Lord [Exodus xix.l~25~\ 

The Ten Commandments [Exodus xx.1-17] 

The Golden Calf [Exodus xxxii.1-35] . 



221 



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16 
20 
26 
31 
37 
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47 
51 
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69 
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87 
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97 



CONTENTS 



A Shining Face [Exodus xxxiii.l-xxxiv.35'] . 
The Tent of Meeting [Exodus xxxv.l-xi.48] 
Men op Honour [Exodus xviii.1-27] . . 
A Model Scout [Numbers x.29-32] . . . 
A Faint Heart [Numbers xi.1-35] 
The Brave Spies [Numbers xiii.l-xiv.9] . . 
Pardon and Punishment [Numbers xiv. 10-45] 
A Consuming Fire [Numbers xvi.1-50] . . 
The Graves op a Household [Numbers xx.1-29] 
The Serpent op Brass [Numbers xxi.1-9] . 
Fights by the Way [Numbers xxi.10-35] . 
A False Prophet [Numbers xxi.l-xxiv.25, xxxi, 
A Death on the Hilltop [Deuteronomy xxxiv.l 
The New Leader [Joshua i.1-9] .... 
The Scarlet Thread [Joshua i.lO-vi.27] 

Hidden Evil [Joshua vii.1-26] 

Storming a Fortress [Joshua viii.1-29] . . 
Choppers of Wood [Joshua ix.1-27] . . . 
The Lord's Battle [Joshua x.1-43] . . . 
A Green Old Age [Joshua xiv.6-15, xv.13-19] 
A Grand Farewell [Joshua xxiv.1-31] . . 



1-8] 
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105 
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114 

119 
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12ff 
129 
132 
134 
136 
140 
147 
149 
154 
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164 
166 
169 
172 
175 



THE VICTORIOUS BANNER 



THE VICTORIOUS 
BANNER 



THE BABE IN THE BASKET 

ONE of the pleasures of our summer days in 
the country is playing with rushes. We 
pluck them tall and straight from their beds be- 
side the brooks. Then we weave them into canes, 
and rattles, and baskets, and other wonderful 
things. But I am sure none of us ever attempted 
to make a cradle of rushes. Yet that is what a 
Hebrew mother once did for her baby. 

It happened long after Joseph died. The chil- 
dren of Israel had now become so many that the 
land was filled with them. But a new king ruled 
over Egypt, who forgot what Joseph had done for 
his people. This was Eameses the Second, one of 
the most famous of the Pharaohs. He had won 
great victories in war, and adorned Egypt with 
splendid palaces and temples. But he was afraid 
lest more powerful enemies should attack him, and 
join with the Hebrews in driving him from the 
throne. So he built two strong fortresses, Pithom 
and Eameses, on the border of Goshen. And he 

13 



14 THE VICTORIOUS BANNER 

compelled the Hebrews to work as Ms slaves in 
digging foundations, and pounding mortar, and 
making bricks for the building. In this way he 
hoped to break their spirit, and keep down their 
numbers. But the worse he treated them, the 
more they multiplied and grew. Then Pharaoh 
did a terrible thing. He sent an order through 
Egypt that every little son born in a Hebrew home 
should be thrown into the Nile. 

Now there was a Hebrew family living quite 
near the palace. The father's name was Amram, 
the mother's Jochebed. They had a fine big 
daughter, Miriam, old enough to help with the 
work. They had also a stirring boy of three, 
called Aaron, who made the house ring with laugh- 
ter and talk. Then came another son, born just 
after Pharaoh had sent out the cruel order about 
the children. He was a beautiful baby, with large 
eyes and a bright, winning face. Jochebed could 
not bear to fling him into the river. So she hid 
him for three months at home. When she could 
no longer hide him, she gathered some of the stout 
Egyptian rushes known as papyrus, wove them 
into a basket, and daubed it with bitumen, to make 
it a floating cradle for the child. Then she 
wrapped him in soft, warm clothes, placed him in 
the basket, and laid it among the reeds by the 
river's edge. And she left Miriam to watch over 
her brother, while she went back to pray that God 
would have mercy upon him. 

When we were babies, there was no cruel king 
who wished to do us harm. Everyone loved us. 
Everyone was good to us. Tender hands laid us 
in a cosy cradle, decked with pretty ribbons. 



THE BABE IN THE BASKET 15 

Sweet voices soothed us to sleep. Loving eyes 
looked down on us. When we woke up, strong 
arms held us in their embrace. Our tears were 
kissed away, and our childish ailments gently 
healed. All our wants were cheerfully attended 
to. Yet we were as dependent on God's care as 
little Moses was. Without His help we could not 
have drawn a single breath. He it was that gave 
us to our parents, He that filled their hearts with 
such love to us, He that has made so many good 
things to follow us all our life long. How grateful, 
then, we should be for His kindness, and how 
eager to please Him in what we do ! 

"Kind angels guard me every night, 
As round my bed they stay; 
Nor am I absent from Thy sig) 
In darkness or by day. 

"My health and friends and parents dear 
To me by God are given ; 
I have not any blessing here 

But what is sent from heaven. 

"Such goodness, Lord, and constant care 
A child can ne'er repay; 
But may it be my daily prayer 
To love Thee and obey." 

Ann Gilbert. 



II 

A MOTHEB'S CARE 

IT was not long before Jochebed's prayer was 
answered. As Miriam watched, she saw a 
company of ladies walking towards the river. It 
was Pharaoh's daughter, with her maids, coming 
down to bathe. Old writers tell us that her name 
was Meri, which sounds like our own beautiful 
Mary. Though her father was so cruel a man, 
she had a heart full of love and pity for everyone 
in trouble. So when she saw the basket floating 
among the reeds, she sent a maid to fetch it. 
Eagerly she opened the lid, and there was the 
baby, his sweet wee face bedewed with tears. 
She knew at once that it must be one of the 
Hebrews' children. But, in spite of her father's 
order, she took him in her arms, kissed him fondly, 
and made up her mind to adopt him as her son. 
And she called his name Moses, which means, 
" Drawn from the river." 

At first, however, she was puzzled what to do 
with him. For she knew nothing about the care 
of little children. As she stood wondering, Miriam 
ran up, and smilingly asked if she might bring a 
Hebrew woman to nurse him. And when the prin- 
cess gave her permission, she went and fetched his 
mother. And the princess said to her, ' ' Take this 
child, and nurse him for me, and I will give thee 

16 



A MOTHER'S CARE 17 

wages.' ' So with a beating heart Joehebed re- 
ceived her son back again. And she kept him at 
home till he was f onr or five years old. 

We can imagine how happy the home would 
now be. It was only a rough mud cabin. But 
love made it a very heaven upon earth. How gaily 
would Joehebed sing, as she danced her baby in 
her arms, or carried him on her shoulder, while 
she went about her work. And how pleased 
Miriam would be, when she handed him over for 
a little to her care. When Moses was big enough 
to run about, what fun Aaron and he would have ! 
Boys and girls in Egypt had their toys, just as 
we have. We can see them still in the Museums : 
balls of leather or porcelain, hoops, dolls of many 
shapes, some of them jointed like our own 
favourites, and models of all kinds of animals, 
such as cats and dogs, monkeys, lions, elephants 
and the rest. We may be sure that Pharaoh's 
daughter would keep the boys well supplied with 
the finest that could be got. I do not suppose they 
cared much for dolls. But they would take great 
delight in the animals. And sometimes, no doubt, 
they would break them up, to see how they were 
made. In sunny weather they would be out of 
doors, trundling their hoops, or playing at ball, or 
scampering over the fields, aglow with brightly 
coloured poppies, daisies, and buttercups. Or 
they would spend their hours by the river, digging- 
mud houses and castles, pretending to be great 
builders and famous soldiers. 

Joehebed was glad to see them enjoy their fun. 
For she believed that boys should be boys. But 
she was very careful about one thing. Too many 



18 THE VICTORIOUS BANNER 

of her people had forgotten the Lord. But she 
belonged to a family that feared and honoured 
Him. The name Jochebed means, "The Lord is 
my glory.' ' Her mother had given her the name 
as a motto to live by. She had tried to be worthy 
of it. And now that she had children of her own, 
she brought them up in the same faith. When 
the day's work was over, she would gather them 
about her, and tell them the grand old stories of 
Abraham, Jacob, and Joseph. As they listened 
spellbound, she would teach them that the God of 
their fathers was their God too, and would recall 
how good He had been to them in saving Moses' 
life. Then she would make them all stand up, and 
with hands lifted reverently to heaven repeat 
after her a simple prayer. 

Moses had soon to leave his mother's home. 
But he never forgot the lessons he had learned 
from her lips. No true boy ever does. He may 
be away at school or in business, but often and 
often, when he is lonely or tempted, his mother's 
words come back to him, and he feels stronger 
and better. And at the end of life, when all other 
lessons seem to fade from the memory, these re- 
main fresh and warm. You remember the splen- 
did old Doctor in Ian Maclaren's Beside the 
Bonnie Brier Bush. His life had been a busy one. 
Very seldom had he found time to go to Church. 
But every night he knelt at his bedside, and offered 
up the prayer his mother had taught him. And 
when he was dying, it was from her Bible that 
he asked his friend Drumsheugh to read to him. 
"With flickering breath he repeated her favourite 
Psalm, "The Lord's my shepherd, I'll not want." 



A MOTHER'S CARE 19 

And as he finished the last verse, he appeared to 
see her coming to him, with a light in her hand, to 
kiss him good-night before he fell asleep. 

"They say that man is mighty, 

He governs land and sea, 
He wields a mighty sceptre 

O'er lesser powers that be; 
But a mightier power and stronger 

Man from his throne has hurled, 
For the hand that rocks the cradle 

Is the hand that rules the world.' ' 

W. R. Wallace. 



ni 

AT SCHOOL IN EGYPT 

TV/I" OSES was now old enough to go with the 
-*-*-* princess, to be brought up as her son. He 
would be dressed in fine linen clothes, and given 
a room in the palace, with plenty of servants to 
attend to him. Soon he would be sent to school. 
The Egyptians had many excellent schools. Some 
were public schools, open to all. Others were 
royal schools, held in the palace itself, and con- 
fined to the children of Pharaoh and his highest 
nobles. To one of these royal schools Moses would 
be sent, and here he would begin his education 
under the best masters in Egypt. 

School opened at sunrise, and went on till noon, 
when the boys were let out to play. Like our- 
selves, they learned first to read and write. But 
they had no such simple alphabet as we have. 
Their letters were beautifully drawn pictures — 
an eagle for a, an owl for m, a duck for s, a chicken 
for w, and so on. Many of the copybooks in which 
the boys did their writing lessons are preserved 
in the Museums. Some are very neatly done, while 
others are rough and blotted, with corrections 
made by the teacher on the margin or along the 
top of the page. We may be quite certain that 
Moses did his best to learn quickly. He would 
then be able to read the splendid literature of 

20 



AT SCHOOL IN EGYPT 21 

Egypt, and to enjoy the fairy tales, histories, 
books of travel and adventure, ballads, and songs, 
which are still a delight to scholars who know 
them. 

Besides reading and writing, the boys were 
taught simple arithmetic, and the elements of 
algebra and geometry. But still more attention 
was paid to good conduct. In all the schools, both 
public and royal, the pupils were carefully trained 
to be diligent, truthful, honest, kindly, and re- 
spectful. The Egyptians had a number of books, 
called Instructions, which laid down rules for the 
guidance of the young. Among these rules we 
read the following : 

" Spend no day in idleness.' ' 

1 ' Give thy heart to learning, and love her like a 
mother, for there is nothing so precious as learn- 
ing." 

' l Speak truth, do what is right, for it is great, 
it is mighty, it is enduring." 

"Be kind to the widow and orphan, and feed 
the starving animals of the desert." 

"Never forget to be respectful, and do not sit 
down while another stands who is older than 
thou." 

Above all, the children were taught to honour 
their parents. Two of their best known rules 
were: 

"Never forget what thy mother hath done for 
thee." 

"How good it is when a son obeys his father." 

Eameses himself had this motto written on the 
walls of his temple at Abydos : 

"The most beautiful thing to behold, the best 



9& THE VICTORIOUS BANNER 

to hear, is a child with a thankful heart that beats 
for its father." 

When they left school, the cleverest lads went 
on to College. There they learned higher mathe- 
matics, astronomy, chemistry, medicine, and law. 
They were well grounded also in music and draw- 
ing. But their chief interest was in religion. The 
Egyptians had various sacred books, which the 
students were expected to know as thoroughly 
as we know the Bible. These books tell us all 
about the gods they worshipped, and the duties 
men owed to them. It is certainly a very strange 
religion we find here. The Egyptians worshipped 
gods of the heaven and gods of the earth, gods 
of the mountain and gods of the river, gods of the 
trees and gods of the field. They worshipped their 
Pharaohs, they worshipped their dead ancestors, 
they even worshipped the mummies, or dried 
bodies, of crocodiles, cows, cats, and many other 
animals. And the way they worshipped them was 
by laying out quantities of food and drink upon 
their altars, bringing them gifts of clothing and 
money, singing and dancing for their entertain- 
ment, and praying to them for help in times of 
need. 

All this was very different from the simple faith 
Moses had learned at his mother 's knee. Yet there 
was much that was good in the religion of the 
Egyptians. Their most sacred text, The Book of 
the Dead, describes the Last Judgment, when the 
souls of the dead are brought for trial before the 
god Osiris. Each one confesses the good or evil 
he has done in the world. Then his heart is put 
on a pair of scales, and weighed against the image 



AT SCHOOL IN EGYPT 2S 

of Truth. If the heart is heavy enough, he is 
raised to the glories of heaven. If not, he is cast 
into burning fire. And what counts with Osiris 
is simple justice, kindness, and mercy. The man 
who would win the god's favour must be able to 
say: 

"I did not kill. I did not steal. I did not speak 
lies to anyone. I did not stir up strife. I did 
not revile my neighbour. My heart did not covet. 
I did not blaspheme the gods. I gave bread to the 
hungry, water to the thirsty, clothing to the naked, 
and a ferry-boat to him that was without one. I 
am a man of pure mouth and pure hands, to whom 
'Welcome, welcome V was said by those who saw 
me." 

The aim of the Egyptian teachers was thus to 
turn out good men, with strong minds and a pure 
heart. But they did not forget the training of the 
body. They believed, as we do, that "all work 
and no play makes Jack a dull boy." So they 
encouraged their pupils to spend the afternoon 
in sport. The younger boys would still find 
amusement enough with their hoops and balls, 
their romps and races. The older lads were taught 
swimming and gymnastics. If they wished for 
quieter games, they had ninepins and checkers. 
The students at College were made to practise 
lifting and throwing weights, fencing and wrest- 
ling, fishing and hunting, archery, and other manly 
exercises. They also received a course in mili- 
tary drill, and had to take their part in sham 
fights by land and water. 

We have gone far beyond the Egyptians in many 



24 THE VICTORIOUS BANNER 

points, but we still have something to learn from 
them. Our teachers are often tempted to give all 
their attention to the mind. But the training of 
the character is yet more important. And both 
depend largely on our physical health. So the 
good teacher will develop body, mind, and soul 
alike. Dr. Arnold of Rugby was the first great 
English headmaster to take this broad view of 
education. He loved learning. He was equally 
fond of sport. He wished to have Rugby keep the 
lead along both these lines. But his chief ambition 
was to make it "a school of Christian gentlemen.' ' 
And the result of his efforts is seen in the fine 
fellows we meet on the pages of Tom Brown's 
School Bays, written by one of his favourite schol- 
ars. Thank God! there are now many splendid 
schools, where boys and girls are trained to be 
strong, brave, thoughtful, true-hearted, and pure. 
A school like this calls out our warmest loyalty, 
as "the best school of all." We love it when we 
are still at school. We are proud of it when we 
leave. We try always to do honour to it. And 
we are glad to go back, now and again, to revive 
the old affection. 

"It's good to see the School we knew, 
The land of youth and dream, 
To greet again the rule we knew 
Before we took the stream. 

"Though long we've missed the sight of her, 
Our hearts may not forget; 
We've lost the old delight of her, 
We keep her honour yet. 



AT SCHOOL IN EGYPT 25 

""Well honour yet the School we knew, 
The best School of all : 
We'll honour yet the rule we knew, 
Till the last bell call. 

"For, working days or holidays, 
And glad or melancholy days, 
They were great days and jolly days 
At the best School of all." 

H. Newbolt. 



IV 
THE CALL OF COUNTEY 

WE do not know how Moses occupied his time 
after he left College. The Jewish writer 
Josephus says he became a soldier, and led Pha- 
raoh's troops to victory against the Ethiopians 
and other enemies. It is quite likely that he was a 
captain in the Egyptian army. No doubt, also, he 
would be a ruler over some part of the land. 
But all the time his heart was with his own 
people. We read that he used to visit them at 
their work, and that he was sorely grieved to see 
them ground down by their labours. He may 
even have asked Pharaoh to lighten their load. 
But Pharaoh would do nothing to help them. 
At last one day he found an Egyptian overseer 
beating a Hebrew workman. His anger was 
roused. So he looked this way and that; and 
when he saw there was no one near them he slew 
the Egyptian, and delivered the Hebrew out of 
his hands. 

It was a rash act, and Moses had to suffer for 
his rashness. Yet it was the call of country, and 
in the Providence of God it proved the first step 
in setting the people free. 

In the dark hour of Scottish oppression a young 
knight, Sir William Wallace, was walking through 

26 



THE CALL OF COUNTRY 27 

the streets of Dundee. He met an English officer, 
who insulted both himself and his country. In 
fierce wrath Wallace struck him dead. He was 
pursued, outlawed, and driven to the hills. His 
home was burned, and his wife and child were 
slain. But this only drove the iron of patriotism 
deeper into his heart. And with a few heroic fol- 
lowers he raised the banner of Scottish Inde- 
pendence, and began that great struggle which 
brought his country not only freedom, but immor- 
tal glory and honour. 

It was by just such deeds that William Tell, 
and Joan of Arc, and Washington, and Garibaldi, 
and the brave men who fought for us in France 
and Flanders, won the battles of freedom. They 
had each listened to the call of country: 



"Lay the proud usurpers low! 
Tyrants fall in every foe ! 
Liberty's in every blow! — 
Let us do or die ! ' ' 

But it is not the soldier alone who hears the call. 
Robert Burns, the author of these heroic lines, 
was an Ayrshire ploughman. He could not fight, 
but he loved his country as ardently as any sol- 
dier. When he was quite a young lad, he hoped 
that he might be able at least to "sing a sang" 
for Scotland's sake. And in later life he wrote 
the poems which have helped more than brilliant 
victories to make his country "loved at home, re- 
vered abroad. ' ' Robert Browning loved England 
with an equal passion. He said to himself : i ' Here 



28 THE VICTORIOUS BANNER 

and there did England help me, — how can I help 
England!" And he poured out the full strength 
of his poetic genius in singing the praise of Eng- 
land. 

It was the same with the American poet 
Whittier. He loved the hills, and lakes, and 
streams, the green fields, and the quiet homesteads 
of New England. He loved the flag "with stars 
bedecked. ' ' His heart beat high when he read the 
story of the Pilgrim Fathers, the old [Quaker 
Saints, and the heroes of the War of Independ- 
ence. He wished to see their spirit of loyalty kept 
alive in the land. So during the great War for 
Freedom he sang those songs of Country and Lib- 
erty, Truth and Right, which stir the soul like a 
trumpet. And at the very end of his life he was 
still singing: 



Land of lands ! to thee we give 

Our prayers, our hopes, our service free ; 

For thee thy sons shall nobly live, 
And at thy need shall die for thee." 



A great poet is even rarer than a great soldier. 
But happily there are other ways of serving our 
country. Some of us have recently been reading 
the Life of Andrew Carnegie, He was a poor 
Scottish boy, who went to America, and there be- 
came very rich. Though he loved America, he 
never ceased to love his native land. And on both 
of them he showered his gifts of libraries, and 
organs, and halls, and parks, which have done so 



THE CALL OF COUNTRY 29 

much to educate and refine the people. It is good 
when rich men spend their money in this way. But 
we do not need to be rich to show our love of 
country. 

The most impressive part of the Armistice 
Day Celebrations of 1920 was the burial of an 
Unknown Warrior in Westminster Abbey. That 
was the Empire's tribute to the patriotism of the 
common soldier. We honour the generals who 
planned the campaign. But we see now that it 
was the courage of the rank and file which really 
won the war. And in times of peace as well it is 
the multitude of common men and women who do 
most for their country. Going about their duties 
in simple loyalty, they hold up her honour, and 
make her name respected through the world. 

The Italian patriot, Luigi Settembrini, was ly- 
ing in a foul prison at Naples. He expected next 
morning to be condemned to death. So he wrote 
to his wife telling her that he would die with 
the quiet courage of the martyr. Then he bade 
her kiss the children, and give them his last mes- 
sage, "To know and worship God; to love work; 
to love their country above all else." A father 
could leave his children no finer legacy than this. 
Our country has done much for us. And she ex- 
pects the best of us in return. We can begin to 
serve her while we are still at school, by working 
hard and playing the game. And if we continue 
to act in this spirit, we shall be a credit to the 
land, and at the end we shall leave her better than 
we found her. 



30 THE VICTORIOUS BANNER 

1 'Land of our birth, our faith, our pride, 
For whose dear sake our fathers died: 
O Motherland, we pledge to thee 
Head, heart, and hand through the years to be." 

Rudyabd Kipling 



A GALLANT KNIGHT 

WHEN Moses had slain the Egyptian, he 
buried him hastily in the sand, and returned 
to the palace, thinking the deed would never be 
known. But the man whom he had rescued from 
the Egyptian began to talk about it. Next day 
Moses went back to visit his people, and found two 
of them quarrelling. As he watched, one struck the 
other a rough blow. Moses was much displeased. 
So he went up, and asked the man why he had 
struck his fellow. The man answered rudely, " Who 
made thee a prince and a judge over us? In- 
tendest thou to kill me, as thou killedst the Egyp- 
tian V 9 Moses was greatly alarmed when he knew 
that his secret was out. He was still more alarmed 
when he heard, from one of his friends, that it had 
reached the ears of Pharaoh. Very soon he 
learned that Pharaoh had sent out an order to 
slay him. So he got together some bread and a 
skin of water, and fled for safety to the desert 
of Midian. 

It was a terrible journey. All about him there 
was nothing to be seen but sand, broken only by 
bare rocks and a few stunted shrubs. Above him 
blazed the pitiless sun, blistering and scorching 
him till he was ready to drop with faintness. 

31 



32 THE VICTORIOUS BANNER 

There was no track to guide him, no man to give 
him a friendly greeting, not even a bird to sing 
to him. The only sign of life would be a lizard 
or two gliding among the rocks. As he trudged 
on, day after day, the water in his skin began to 
fail, and his heart sank within him. Then to his 
joy he reached a well, and sat down beside it for 
rest and refreshment. In a little while seven 
young girls came along with their father's sheep, 
drew water from the well, and poured it into 
troughs for the sheep to drink. While they were 
busy with their work, some rude shepherds rushed 
down upon them, drove them away from the 
troughs, and were going to use them for their own 
sheep. Moses was indignant to see girls treated 
like this. So he rose to his feet, and flung him- 
self between them and the shepherds. Though 
he had no weapon but his staff, he made so good 
a fight that the shepherds fled in terror. The 
girls were thus able to water their flocks in peace. 
But Moses was not content with having fought 
their battle. He helped them also with the water- 
ing, and did not sit down again till the work was 
finished. 

It was a gallant act, like those of the knights 
we read about in The Sleeping Beauty, and in such 
great poems as Chaucer's Canterbury Tales or 
Tennyson's Idylls of the King. 

You know how the knight was prepared for his 
task. As a boy at home, he was trained to fear 
God and honour the king, to be obedient to his 
parents, to love truth, and to be courteous and 
kind to everyone. Then he became a squire, or 
servant to a knight. When he was old enough to 



A GALLANT KNIGHT 33 

be a knight himself, lie went to Church, and re- 
mained one whole night upon his knees, praying 
to God for courage and strength. In the morning 
he was girt with sword and spurs, and took a vow 
to be loyal to king and country, to defend the right 
at all times, to maintain his honour, to speak the 
truth, to help the needy, and above all to protect 
women and children. Then he saddled his horse, 
and rode out in quest of adventures. He might go 
to Palestine, to fight as a Crusader. Or he might 
stay in his own country, to defend it against inva- 
sion. But wherever he went, he was true to his 
vow. He fought bravely and well. But he would 
rather die than lose his honour. He would not 
even take an unfair advantage of his enemy. 
Though hard pressed in battle, he never forgot to 
be chivalrous. And in times of peace, when there 
was no more fighting to be done, he would roam 
about as a knight-errant, looking for a chance of 
doing a good turn to someone, especially a woman 
or child who might be in trouble. 

Chaucer has drawn a beautiful picture of the 
true knight, in his Prologue to the Canterbury 
Tales : 

"A knight there was, and that a worthy man, 
That fro the time that he first began 
To riden out, he loved chivalry, 
Truth and honour, freedom and courtesy. 
Full worthy was he in his lordes war, . . . 
And though that he was worthy, he was wise, 
And of his port as meek as is a maid. 
He never yet no villainy said he, 
In all his life, unto no manner wight. 
He was a very perfect gentle knight.' ' 



34 THE VICTORIOUS BANNER 

We no longer see knights on horseback riding 
up and down the land. But there are men of 
knightly spirit still among us. One of the noblest 
was Abraham Lincoln. He was born in a poor 
leg cabin. He had little or no schooling. Till 
he was a grown man, he never mixed in fine so- 
ciety. But he was always the flower of chivalry. 
Like every other good thing, his chivalry began 
at home. His stepmother tells us, "Abe never 
gave me a cross look, and never refused, in fact 
or appearance, to do anything I requested him." 
When he went out to work, he soon became known 
as the truest, kindest, most obliging young fellow 
in the neighbourhood. He was always ready to 
put out a helping hand. Once at least he was seen 
in a friend's house, poring over his books, and 
rocking the baby's cradle with his foot. Many 
other stories are told of his courtesy to women 
and children. There was nothing he hated so much 
as rudeness or cruelty to the weak. Though he 
despised fighting, he would stand up to the biggest 
bully in their defence. His first sight of human 
slavery at New Orleans made him resolve to strike 
a deadly blow at that unholy thing. When after- 
wards he rose to great power, he remained the 
same kindly, courteous gentleman. He was always 
to be found on the side of the poor and oppressed. 
But though he fought hard on their behalf, he was 
scrupulously fair to his opponents. He would not 
allow his friends to put down a speaker who had 
attacked him bitterly. When war broke out, he 
waged it "with firmness in the right, as God gives 
us to see the right," but at the same time "with 
malice toward none, with charity to all. ' ' In the 



A GALLANT KNIGHT 35 

midst of his own sorrows, he did what he could 
to lessen the sorrows of others. He even found 
time to answer the letters of little girls who wrote 
to him. On one occasion, when he was riding with 
some friends, he halted for a few minutes, to catch 
two young birds that had been blown from their 
nest, and to put them back again. And when his 
friends laughed at his tenderness of heart, he said, 
1 1 1 could not have slept unless I had restored those 
little birds to their mother.' ' 

In this order of knighthood we can all enlist. 
Many of us have already enlisted. We may be Boy 
Scouts ; and the boy who is a good Scout is in full 
training as a knight. But whether we be Scouts 
or not, we ought all to obey the Scout Law, with 
its ten rules of knighthood : — 

1. That we never break our honour. 

2. That we be loyal to our king and country, 
our parents, officers, and employers. 

3. That we try our best to do a good turn to 
somebody every day. 

4. That we be friendly to all, accepting others 
as we find them, and making the best of them. 

5. That we be courteous, that is, polite to every- 
one, but especially to women and children, old 
people, invalids, cripples, and so on. 

6. That we be kind to animals, sparing them all 
unnecessary pain. 

7. That we obey the orders of our parents and 
leaders without question, because it is our duty. 

8. That we smile and whistle under all diffi- 
culties. 

9. That we be thrifty, so as never to be a bur- 



$6 THE VICTORIOUS BANNER 

den to others, but rather be able to help them when 
in need. 

10. That we be pure in thought, word, and deed. 
In short, that we be 

"Trusty, loyal and helpful, 
Brotherly, courteous, kind, 
Obedient, smiling and thrifty, 
Pure as the rustling wind. ' ' 

Sir Robert Baden-Powell. 




VI 
A GOOD SHEPHERD 

THE girls whom Moses had helped were the 
daughters of Jethro, the priest of Midian. 
When they went home and told their father what 
the brave Egyptian had done for them, he was 
vexed that they had left him alone at the well, and 
bade them go back at once and invite him to have 
dinner with them. Moses gladly accepted the in- 
vitation. As they dined together, he charmed 
them all so much by his grace and conrtesy that 
Jethro asked him to remain with him as iris chief 
shepherd. Moses accepted this invitation also. 
Soon he married Jethro 's daughter Zipporah, and 
settled down in Midian as one of the family. 

It must have been a hard life for one accus- 
tomed to the luxuries of Egypt. His home was 
but a coarse black tent, very poorly furnished. 
The pastures where he tended his flocks were 
patches of thin grass on the edge of the desert. 
There Moses would pass the hours under a broil- 
ing sun, trying to keep his sheep from harm. 
Often the pastures would be burnt by the heat, 
and he would have to scour the desert in search 
of fresh ones. Or a foolish sheep would wander 
off among rocks and precipices, and he would have 
to go after it, through dangers of every kind, till 
he brought it back safe and sound to the fold. 

37 



88 THE VICTORIOUS BANNER 

In spite of all these hardships, Moses did his 
best to be a loyal servant to Jethro, and a good 
shepherd to the sheep. Jewish legend tells us 
how careful he was of his flocks, and how tender 
to the sick and the lambs. We can well believe it. 
A man of his knightly spirit would be kind to all 
God's creatures, and especially to the weak and 
suffering. He was kind to them because he loved 
them. And he looked for no reward but the hap- 
piness of doing good. Yet all the while God was 
quietly preparing him to be "shepherd" of His 
people Israel, to guide them through the desert 
to the rich, green pastures of Palestine. And, 
though Moses knew nothing about it, He was mak- 
ing him a prophecy of the Good Shepherd, who 
went into the wilderness to seek and to save the 
lost, carried them home rejoicing in His bosom, 
and at last laid down His life for them. 

When our school days are over, we too must go 
to work. It may be shepherding or farming, or 
work in the office or the shop. At first we shall be 
put to quite simple, humble tasks. We often rebel 
at this, and want something bigger to do. Then 
we begin to lose interest in our work, and think 
only of our pay, and the amusement we get with 
it. But we can never hope to succeed in this way. 
Still less can we please God by what we do. He 
has given us our place in life, and He expects us 
to work faithfully and well. "Whatsoever thy 
hand findeth to do, do it with thy might. ' ' 

Two hundred years ago, there lived at Cre- 
mona in Italy a maker of violins, called Antonio 
Stradivari. He had an eye, he said, that winced 
at false work and loved the true. Long after 



A GOOD SHEPHERD 39 

others had gone to rest, he would be found still 
polishing and varnishing his instruments, trying 
to make them as perfect as he could. Sometimes 
his companions asked him with a laugh, 

"Were God at fault for violins, thou absent I " 

The good man answered bravely: 

"Yes! He were at fault for Stradivari's work. 
If my hand slacked, I should rob God — 
Leaving a blank instead of violins. 
I say, not God Himself can make man 's best 
Without best men to help Him. 'Tis God gives skill, 
But not without men 's hands. He could not make 
Antonio Stradivari's violins without Antonio.' ' 

So he went on with his work, believing that 

1 1 When any master holds a violin of mine, 
He will be glad that Stradivari lived, 
Made violins, and made them of the best. 
The masters only know whose work is good ; 
They will choose mine, and while God gives them skill, 
I give them instruments to play upon, 
God choosing me to help them. ' ' 

Stradivari had his reward. For every violinist 
now wishes a "Stead" to play upon. And as he 
touches that wonderful instrument, he thanks God 
in his heart "that Stradivari lived, made violins, 
and made them of the best." 

But the noblest example of work is Jesus Christ. 
Though He was the Son of God, He worked for 
twenty years in the carpenter's shop. Often He 



40 THE VICTORIOUS BANNER 

would have very trivial tilings to make, such as a 
wooden rivet for a_ plough, or a toy for a child. 
But He never complained that His work was be- 
neath Him. We may be sure that all He made 
was of the best, every beam smoothly planed, every 
joint securely fixed, and every nail squarely 
driven. And just because He was faithful in that 
which is least, the Father called Him to be Lord 
of His kingdom, and Saviour of the world. 

It is only by working as Jesus did that we win 
success in life. "Seest thou a man diligent in his 
business? He shall stand before kings; he shall 
not stand before mean men." There is, indeed, 
no limit to the heights that one may reach by 
honest work. But the chief reward of work is 
found in itself. A bit of work well done sends a 
thrill of pleasure into the heart, like that which 
God enjoyed when He finished His work of Crea- 
tion. And it pleases, not only ourselves, but all 
who see it. What is still better, it pleases God, 
who loves what is right. 

" Teach me, my God and King, 
In all things Thee to see, 
And what I do in any thing, 
To do it as for Thee. 

"All may of Thee partake: 
Nothing can be so mean 
Which with His tincture, 'For Thy sake/ 
Will not grow bright and clean. 

"A servant with this clause 
Makes drudgery divine ; 
Who sweeps a room as for Thy laws 
Makes that and the action fine. 



A GOOD SHEPHERD 41 

"This is the famous stone 
That turneth all to gold ; 
For that which God doth touch and own 
Cannot for less be told. ' ' 

George Herbert. 



VII 
THE BURNING BUSH 

THE years rolled on. Moses had now struck 
deep roots in Midian. He was happy at his 
work. He was still happier in his home. The love 
of Zipporah made his exile sweet for him. By this 
time, too, their home was filled with the music 
of young voices. For two sons had been born to 
them, Gershom, which means, " Stranger,' ' and 
Eliezer, "My God is a help to me." 

Though he had so much to gladden him, we can 
see that his heart turned back lovingly to the old 
home in Goshen. Even as he clasped his first 
child in his arms, he felt himself to be "a stranger 
in a strange land. ' ' And while he worked loyally 
with Jethro, he kept true to the memory of his 
mother's God. The memory had, no doubt, become 
rather dim with absence. But it lay like a spark 
of living fire in his breast. And God was to fan 
the spark into a pure, bright flame. 

It was the hot summer time. The pastures of 
Midian were all parched by the sun. So Moses led 
his flock right across the desert to Sinai, or Horeb, 
"the mountain of God." As he reached the place, 
he caught sight of a bramble bush flooded with a 
glow of heavenly light. It appeared, in fact, as 
if the bush burned with fire, and yet was not con- 
sumed. Then Moses said to himself, "I will turn 

42 



THE BURNING BUSH 43 

aside now to see this great sight, and find out why 
the bush is not burned.' ' As he drew near, he 
heard a voice from the midst of the bush, bidding 
him put off his sandals from his feet, for the place 
on which he stood was holy ground. Moses did as 
the voice commanded him. Then he hid his face 
in his hands, for he knew now that God was in the 
bush, and he was afraid to look upon Him. But 
the Lord called him by his name, and bade him 
not be afraid. Then He revealed to him His own 
name, Jehovah, the Eternal I AM, "the God of 
Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of 
Jacob," who would be the God of their children 
also "to all generations." 

I think we can understand what the burning 
bush meant for Moses. It was the vision of God 
in Nature. Like Jacob, he used to imagine that 
Gfod could be found only in his father's house. 
Now he saw that He was as near to him on the 
rugged slopes of Sinai. The sense he thus re- 
ceived of God's living presence never left him. 
As he gazed that night on the starry skies above 
him, he could sing with the Psalmist: "0 Lord, 
our Lord, how resplendent is Thy name in all the 
earth!" In the morning, wmen the sun rose, he 
saw there also the vision of God's glory. Then he 
looked about him, and discovered that 

" Earth's crammed with heaven, 
And every common bush afire with God. ' ' 

On his way homeward he found God, not only 
in the green pastures, but even in the burning 
sand. He saw the reflection of His love in the eyes 



44 THE VICTORIOUS BANNER 

of Zipporah, the innocent faces of his children, and 
the warm hearts of his friends. When he returned 
to Egypt, he felt His presence in the rolling waters 
of the Nile, the fields where he played with Aaron 
in days gone by, and the rushes among which he 
was sheltered in the basket. He met with Him 
in the palace, as well as in the hovels of the He- 
brews. As he led the people through the desert, 
He found Him among the stormy billows of the 
Eed Sea, and beside the wells of Elim. He heard 
His voice in the thunders of Sinai, the howling 
of the storm, and the gentle patter of the rain- 
drops. When at last he stood on Mount Pisgah, 
and cast his eyes over the hills and valleys of 
Palestine, he saw that it was indeed a Holy Land, 
for every prospect shone with the beauty of the 
Lord. Then he lay down gladly to rest in His 
bosom. 

But it is not only great prophets and poets wno 
see God's glory in Nature. To every reverent 
spirit He reveals Himself. You may remember 
the words spoken by Old Abram, in Gene Stratton 
Porter's Song of the Cardinal, to the young hunter 
who tried to shoot the bird: "To my mind, ain't 
no better way to love an' worship God than to 
protect an' appreciate these fine gifts He's given 
for our joy an' use. Worshippin' that bird's a 
kind o ' religion with me. Gettin ' the beauty from 
the sky, an' the trees, an' the grass, an' the water 
that God made, is nothin' but doin' Him homage. 
Whole earth's a sanctuary. You can worship 
from sky above to grass under foot." 

Even a child may have the vision. Jean Fran- 
gois Millet was a little French boy who lived in a 



THE BURNING BUSH 45 

village called Gruchy, on the coast of Normandy. 
His parents were poor peasants, bnt they had 
both a deep love for Nature. His father used to 
take him ont for a walk through the fields or by 
the shore. Every little while he would pick a 
flower or a blade of grass, or point to some tree 
they were passing, and show him how beautiful 
it was. One day they were watching the sunset 
from the cliffs above Gruchy. Jean cried out with 
delight at the golden glory on the sea. But his 
father took off his hat, and reverently said, "My 
son, it is God. ' ' It was as if a veil dropped from 
the boy's eyes. He too saw God in His works. 
And he never lost the vision. When he grew up, 
he became a famous artist. The pictures he 
painted were all of simple things, such as peasants 
at work in the fields, shepherds with their sheep, 
and cottage women nursing their children. But 
into all of them he threw the light he had seen that 
day on the waters. And as we look at them, an 
awe steals over us. For we have the sense that 
God is there. 

If our hearts are open to the love of God, we too 
shall find Him in all things. We shall see His 
glory in the sunshine and the stars, in sea and 
stream, in the mountain and the forest, in the 
green grass, the yellow broom, and the purple 
heather, in the pure white snowdrop, the red rose, 
the lily, the daisy, and the buttercup. We shall 
hear His voice in the song of the lark, the cooing 
of the dove, the whistle of the wind, and the merry 
babbling of the brook. We shall trace His likeness 
in every gracious life, and we shall feel His influ- 
ence in every kind word and deed. 



46 THE VICTORIOUS BANNER 

"When I found Him in my bosom, 

Then I found Him everywhere, 
In the bud and in the blossom, 

In the earth and in the air ; 
And He spake to me with clearness 

From the silent stars that say, 
'As ye find Him in His nearness. 

Ye shall find Him far away/ " 

W. C. Smith. 



vm 

A EOD IN THE HAND 

WHEN we see the vision of God, we are moved 
to serve him in some way. The line of ser- 
vice for Moses was clear. It was to go back to 
Egypt, and help to set his people free. The time 
was ripe for this. Barneses had died after a long 
reign of sixty-seven years. He was buried in the 
royal city of Thebes, where his mummy was dis- 
covered about fifty years ago. As we look upon his 
hard, stern features, we can imagine the sigh of 
relief that rose from the Hebrews when they heard 
of his death. The new Pharaoh, Merneptah, was a 
feeble old man when he began to reign. Though he 
fought bravely against his enemies, he was unable 
to stop the decay which now fell upon Egypt. But 
he was as harsh to the Hebrews as his father had 
been. We read that their groaning rose up to 
heaven, and that God took notice of them, and 
resolved to save them from the hand of the Egyp- 
tians, and to make for them a new home in Pales- 
tine, which was a good land and a large, a land 
flowing with milk and honey. And He called on 
Moses to be their leader. "Behold, now, the cry 
of the children of Israel is come unto me: more- 
over, I have seen the oppression with which the 
Egyptians oppress them. Come, then, and I will 
send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring 

47 



48 THE VICTORIOUS BANNER 

forth my people the children of Israel out of 
Egypt." 

At first Moses shrank from the task. He felt 
he was too humble a person to go to Pharaoh and 
plead for his people. Even when the Lord as- 
sured him that He would be with him, to give him 
favour in the eyes of the Egyptians, he urged that 
perhaps the Hebrews themselves would neither 
believe him nor hearken to his voice. Then the 
Lord said to him, "What is that in thine hand!" 
And he said, ' ' A rod. ' ' And the Lord said, ' ' Cast 
it on the ground." And he cast it on the ground. 
And when it touched the ground, it became a ser- 
pent, and Moses fled in terror from it. Then the 
Lord said, "Put forth thine hand, and take it by 
the tail." And Moses did so, and it became a 
rod in his hand again. 

The rod which Moses cast on the ground was 
the shepherd's crook which he carried with him to 
guide his flock and to lift the lost ones out of holes 
and pitfalls. When charged with the spirit of 
God, it became a living thing, able to strike terror 
even into the heart of Pharaoh. It is wonderful 
what a rod may still do in the hand of a true 
leader of men. You have seen the conductor of an 
orchestra. Simply by moving his baton he directs 
the whole concert. One might almost fancy that 
he draws out the music with the point of the baton. 
We read of General Gordon, too, that he led his 
army to battle by waving a short white cane. The 
Chinese used to call it "the magic wand of vic- 
tory." 

But there are many other little things which 
may become as powerful as Moses ' rod. A pen 



A ROD IN THE HAND 49 

in the hand of a ready writer will dash off words 
that burn like a fire, or sting like a serpent. A 
chisel in the hand of Michel Angelo will shape a 
useless block of marble into the immortal figure of 
a David. A brush in the hand of Eaphael will 
turn the empty canvas into a Sistine Madonna. 
A needle in the hand of a clever seamstress will 
do work beautiful in the eyes of God, whether it 
be simple mending for the home, warm garments 
for the poor, or embroideries for the queen's 
palace. 

Some of our greatest discoveries have been 
made by attention to very little things. Galileo 
found out the secret of the earth's movement from 
watching the swing of a lamp in the cathedral of 
Pisa. Newton hit upon the law of gravitation 
through seeing an apple fall to the ground. James 
Watt learned to run engines by steam because 
when a boy he had observed the power of steam 
in a kettle. Benjamin Franklin began the science 
of electricity by sending up a key hung on a kite 
into the thunder-cloud. Sir Samuel Brown got 
his idea of the Suspension Bridge from a spider's 
thread. And Brunei formed his plan for the 
Thames Tunnel on the way in which the shipworm 
bores its hole. 

In the same manner, all good work has had small 
beginnings. Dr. Barnardo's Homes for Destitute 
Children started with a gift of sixpence and three 
farthings from a servant girl. D. L. Moody was 
led to embark on his great evangelistic career 
through kind Mr. Kimball laying his hand on his 
shoulder, and asking him if he would not give his 
heart to Christ. Long afterwards he used to say, 



50 TKE VICTORIOUS BANNER 

"I can feel the touch of that man's hand upon 
my shoulder even yet." The modern missionary 
movement sprang from the heart of a village cob- 
bler, William Carey, whose fine motto was, " Ex- 
pect great things from God ; attempt great things 
for God." Christianity itself began with a few 
simple fishermen, who gathered round the Master 
to hear His words of life. 

There are many people too timid to do any real 
work for God or man. Perhaps they feel they have 
but one poor talent ; and like the man in the par- 
able they wrap it up in a napkin, and bury it in 
the earth. Or they are waiting for some big 
opportunity to come to them. But the only way 
to increase our talents is to make full use of what 
we have. And we must begin just where we are, 
with that which is in our hand. As Carlyle was 
always urging, "Do the duty that lies nearest 
thee." Then the little things will lead to great, 
and fit us for high service both in this life and in 
the next. 

' ' Small things are best : 

Grief and unrest 
To rank and wealth are given ; 

But little things 

On little wings 
Bear little souls to heaven." 

F. W. Faber. 



IX 

BRICKS WITHOUT STRAW 

T\/rOSES still held back, urging that he was a 
-■* * -*• man of slow speech. But the Lord answered 
him, saying, ' ' Who hath made man 's month ? Is it 
not I, the Lord ! Go then, and I will be with thy 
month, and will teach thee what thou shalt speak. ' ? 
And when Moses begged Him to send someone else, 
His anger was kindled against him, and He said, 
"Is there not Aaron thy brother, the Levite? I 
know that he can speak well. And behold! he is 
even now coming to meet thee ; and when he seeth 
thee, he will be glad in his heart. And thou shalt 
speak to him, and put the words in his mouth, 
while I show you both what ye shall do. Thus he 
shall be thy spokesman to the people : he shall be 
a mouthpiece to thee, and thou shalt be a Godsend 
to him. ' ' 

At last Moses yielded to the call. Then he rose 
up, and returned to Jethro, and asked permission 
to go and visit his brethren in Egypt. With true 
Arab courtesy Jethro bade him go in peace. So 
he saddled his ass, placed his wife and his two 
sons on it, and set out for Egypt, taking the rod 
of God in his hand. Meantime the Lord had bid- 
den Aaron go out to the desert to meet Moses. 
So he went, and met him at Horeb, where Moses 

51 



52 THE VICTORIOUS BANNER 

had seen the vision of God in the burning bush. 
"We can imagine the delight with which the two 
brothers met after all these years of separation. 
The story tells us how Aaron fell on Moses ' neck, 
and kissed him, as Esau had kissed his brother 
Jacob. No doubt he greeted Zipporah and the 
boys with equal affection. Then he would have 
to give Moses all the news about his own wife and 
children, about their sister Miriam, and about 
their old parents, Amram and Jochebed, who were 
most likely dead by this time. Moses was now 
able to tell Aaron the business on which the Lord 
had sent him. Aaron gladly accepted his part 
in it, and the little company went on their way 
again. 

When they reached Egypt, Moses and Aaron 
gathered together the elders of Israel, and told 
them what the Lord had said. They also showed 
them the signs He had given them. And the men 
believed; and they bowed down their heads, and 
worshipped. 

Moses and Aaron then went to Pharaoh, and 
asked him to let the children of Israel go a three 
days' journey into the desert, to offer sacrifice 
to Jehovah their God. But Pharaoh refused, say- 
ing, ' ' Who is Jehovah, that I should listen to His 
voice, in letting Israel go 1 I know nothing about 
Jehovah ; and I will not let Israel go. ' ' Moreover, 
he accused Moses and Aaron of trying to unsettle 
the people at their work. So he bade them begone 
to their own business. And that same day he sent 
an order to the overseers of the Israelites that 
they should add to their burdens. It was the cus- 
tom for makers of bricks to work little pieces of 



BRICKS WITHOUT STRAW 53 

chopped straw into the clay, to hold it more firmly 
together. This straw used to be supplied to the 
Israelites. But now Pharaoh ordered the over- 
seers to give them no more. "Let them go," he 
said, "and gather straw for themselves." And 
they must still produce as large a number of 
bricks as before ! So the people were scattered all 
over the land of Egypt, in search of stubble from 
which to chop the straw. And the overseers urged 
them on, saying, "Fill in your full day's work, 
as when ye had the straw given you. ' ' When they 
failed to do so, the Hebrew foremen were beaten 
with rods. They went to Pharaoh, and complained 
that they had been beaten without cause. But he 
drove them ofT, saying, "Ye are idle, ye are idle." 
So the people had to make their bricks without 
straw, as we may see from the upper walls of the 
ruined city of Pithom, where many of the bricks 
are of pure clay. 

It was very foolish of Pharaoh to compel the 
Israelites to make bricks without straw. He might 
have foreseen that the walls they built would soon 
crumble into dust. But he was just as foolish in 
everything else. He was trying, in fact, to build 
up his Empire on bricks without straw. That is, 
he ruled Egypt by force, without the binding in- 
fluence of justice and humanity. Now no king- 
dom can last long which is not based on justice 
and humanity. So Pharaoh's power fell to pieces, 
sooner even than the walls of Pithom. 

There are many people at the present day quite 
as foolish as Pharaoh. They are ambitious to 
excel. Like the builders of Babel, they strive to 
raise up towers whose top shall reach to heaven. 



64 THE VICTORIOUS BANNER 

But they do not put the solid grain of character 
into their work. They pay no regard to the princi- 
ples of truth and honour. For a while they may 
seem to get on. But sooner or later the whole 
building will tumble in ruins about their heads. To 
quote again from Old Abram: " Young man, truth 
is the corner-stone o' the temple o' character. 
Nobody can put up a good buildin' without a solid 
foundation; an' you can't do solid character build- 
in' with a lie at the base. Man that's a liar ain't 
fit for anything ! Can 't trust him in no sphere or 
relation o ' life ; or in any way, shape, or manner. ' ' 
If we wish our buildings to last, we must first of 
all lay our foundation on the Rock of Ages, the 
Lord Jesus Christ. Then we must have our bricks 
shot through with the straw of sterling character. 
We must be true both in word and in deed. We 
must act justly to all men. We must be thoughtful 
and kindly, merciful and loving. If so, the rain 
may descend, and the floods come, and the winds 
blow and beat upon our work, but it will not fall, 
for it is eternal as the heavens. 

"Only a sweet and virtuous soul, 

Like seasoned timber, never gives ; 
But though the whole world turn to coal, 
Then chiefly lives." 

George Herbert. 



X 

THE TEN PLAGUES 

THE Hebrew foremen were vexed at their treat- 
ment by Pharaoh. They saw that they and 
their people were in a very desperate plight. And 
they blamed Moses and Aaron for having caused 
ail the trouble. Meeting them as they left the pal- 
ace, they plied them with reproaches, sayings 
"May the Lord look down upon you, and pass 
judgment on your actions ! For ye have brought 
us into ill odour with Pharaoh and his servants, 
putting a sword into their hand to slay us. ' ' 

Moses was just as vexed as they were. But he 
made no attempt to throw the blame on others. 
Instead of this, he took the matter straight to the 
Lord, and said, "0 Lord, why hast Thou ill 
treated this people? And why didst Thou send 
me here? For ever since I came to Pharaoh, to 
speak in Thy name, he has ill treated this people. 
And Thou hast not delivered this people at all." 

Now the Lord had already told Moses that Pha- 
raoh would not let the people go, till he was forced 
by a strong hand — His own strong hand. And in 
answer to his prayer He assured him that this was 
about to happen. "Now shalt thou see what I 
will do to Pharaoh. For under the compulsion of 
a strong hand shall he let them go : yea, under the 

55 



56 THE VICTORIOUS BANNER 

compulsion of a strong hand shall he drive them 
out of his land. ' ' 

A few mornings after, Pharaoh had gone down 
to the Nile, perhaps to offer sacrifice. Moses was 
sent to meet him by the river's brink, and to warn 
him that, unless he let the people go* the river 
would be turned into blood. Pharaoh paid no 
heed to the warning. So Moses bade Aaron lift 
his rod over the river, and soon the water became 
red like blood. And all the fish in the river died. 
And the water was so impure that the people 
could not drink it, but were driven to dig wells 
in the soft ground bordering the river. 

Seven days passed, and the water became pure 
and sweet again. But Pharaoh's heart was as 
hard as ever. So Moses was bidden go and say 
to him, "Thus saith the Lord, 'Let my people go, 
that they may worship me ! And if thou refuse ttf 
let them go, behold ! I will smite all the corners of 
thy land with frogs.' " The appeal fell on deaf 
ears. So Aaron lifted his rod again over the 
waters of Egypt ; and great swarms of frogs came 
up, and covered the land, crawling into the houses, 
and squatting on plates and bowls, tables, chairs 
and couches, even the king's bed. 

Pharaoh was so distressed by the frogs that he 
sent for Moses and Aaron, bade them intreat the 
Lord to remove the plague, and promised that he 
would then allow the people to go and worship 
Him. But as soon as the fr©gs were removed, he 
hardened his heart, and refused to let them go. 
Then the Lord bade Aaron stretch out his rod, and 
smite the dust of the earth. And when he did so, 



THE TEN PLAGUES 57 

clouds of gnats, or mosquitoes, rose over all the 
land, and tortured both man and beast. 

Still Pharaoh hardened his heart, and the Lord 
sent gad-flies, which stung the Egyptians so cru- 
elly that Pharaoh offered to let the people go, on 
condition that they went not very far away. So 
Moses intreated the Lord, and the flies were re- 
moved from Pharaoh and his people — there re- 
mained not one. But Pharaoh hardened his heart 
once more, and would not let Israel go. 

Then the Lord said to Moses, "Go unto Pha- 
raoh, and tell him, ' Thus saith Jehovah, the God 
of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may 
worship me! For if thou refuse to let them go, 
behold! the hand of the Lord shall be upon thy 
cattle in the field — the horses, the asses, the cam- 
els, the flocks and the herds — with a very griev- 
ous pestilence.' " And as Pharaoh refused to 
listen, He sent the pestilence next morning, and 
all the cattle that belonged to the Egyptians died, 
while the cattle of the Israelites were left alive. 
Yet the heart of Pharaoh remained as stubborn as 
before. 

The Lord now bade Moses take two handfuls of 
soot from a kiln, and toss it up towards heaven, 
in the presence of Pharaoh. And the soot blew 
all over the land, and settled on the flesh of man 
and beast, causing boils which broke into painful 
ulcers upon their bodies. Still Pharaoh hardened 
his heart, and would not let the people go. 

Then the Lord sent upon Pharaoh and his peo- 
ple a storm of hail "such as had not been in all 
the land of Egypt since it became a nation.' ' It 
was the season when the barley was in the ear, 



58 THE VICTORIOUS BANNER 

and the flax in bloom. And the hail-stones dashed 
the barley and flax to the ground, and broke the 
trees in pieces, leaving the whole land stripped 
and wasted. Pharaoh's proud spirit was at last 
broken by the ruin. So he sent for Moses and 
Aaron, saying, "Now I know that I have sinned: 
Jehovah is in the right, and I and my people are 
in the wrong. ' ' And he begged them to intreat the 
Lord that the storm might cease, promising that 
this time he would let the people go. 

So Moses went out from Pharaoh's presence, 
and lifted up his hands in prayer to the Lord. 
And the storm ceased, and calm returned to the 
earth. But when Pharaoh saw that the storm 
had ceased, he hardened his heart again, and 
would not let the people go. Then the Lord 
threatened to bring upon him a plague of locusts 
which should devour every green thing that was 
left by the hail. And when Pharaoh's servants 
heard it, they implored him to let Israel go, before 
the land should be wholly destroyed. So he called 
Moses and Aaron to him, and said, "Go now, ye 
that are men, and worship the Lord. ' ' But they 
asked that their sons and daughters should be per- 
mitted to go with them. Pharaoh was unwilling 
to allow them, and answered angrily, "The Lord 
be with you, indeed, if I let you go with your little 
ones! Truly, there is evil in your thoughts.' ' 
And he drove them out from his presence. 

Then the Lord made a stiff east wind to blow 
upon Egypt all that day and night. And in the 
morning the wind brought locusts, which swarmed 
over the face of the land, and ate up every green 
thing that was left by the hail. Then Pharaoh 



THE TEN PLAGUES 59 

sent in great haste for Moses and Aaron, and 
said to them, "I have sinned against the Lord 
your God, and also against you. So now, I pray 
you, forgive my sin only this once, and intreat 
the Lord your God, that He may take away this 
deadly plague from me. ' ' 

Once more Moses went out from Pharaoh's 
presence, and intreated the Lord on his behalf. 
And the Lord sent a violent west wind, which 
caught up the locusts, and drove them into the 
Bed Sea, so that there remained not one in all the 
coasts of Egypt. But Pharaoh hardened his heart 
again, and the Lord bade Moses stretch out his 
hand toward heaven, that there might be darkness 
over the land, "even darkness which could be 
felt." And when Moses stretched out his hand, 
there came a three days' darkness over the land, 
so dense that men could not see one another, and 
had to remain all the time at home. Then Pharaoh 
sent for Moses, and said, "Go ye, worship the 
Lord, both ye and your little ones : only your flocks 
and herds must be left behind. ' ' But Moses said, 
"Nay! Our cattle also shall go with us. There 
shall not a hoof be left behind ; for these we must 
take to worship the Lord." And Pharaoh hard- 
ened his heart, and drove Moses from his pres- 
ence, saying, ' i Get thee hence ! And take care that 
thou see my face no more ! For in the day that 
thou seest my face again, thou shalt surely die." 
And Moses said, "Thou hast spoken the truth: 
I will see thy face no more. ' ' 

Then the Lord said to Moses, "One more plague 
will I bring upon Pharaoh and the Egyptians; 
and afterwards he shall let you go hence : yea, he 



60 THE VICTORIOUS BANNER 

shall thrust you out hence by force." And He 
told him that about midnight of that same day 
He would pass through the land of Egypt, and 
would slay all the firstborn in the land, both of 
men and of cattle. So at midnight the Lord passed 
through the land, and slew the firstborn, "from 
the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne to 
the firstborn of the prisoner that lay in the dun- 
geon,' ' along with the firstborn of cattle. And a 
great cry broke over Egypt ; ' ' for there was not a 
house where there was not one dead." And Pha- 
raoh rose up while it was still night, and sent for 
Moses and Aaron, saying, "Rise up, get ye out 
from the midst of my people, both ye and the 
children of Israel! Go, worship the Lord, as ye 
have said ; take both your flocks and your herds, 
and be gone — and bless me too !" The Egyptians 
also urged them to go, and heaped upon them 
gifts of gold and silver and raiment, to get them 
out of the land more speedily. For they said one 
to another, "If they stay, we shall all be dead 
men." 



XI 

THE PASSOVER 

WE have all of us red-letter Hays. The happiest 
are our birthdays, when we receive so many 
beautiful gifts from those who love us. Then there 
is Christmas, the birthday of Jesus, with its spirit 
of kindness and good will to everyone. Nations 
also have days which they celebrate with great 
rejoicing, such as Empire Day, Dominion Day, 
and Independence Day, which is the birthday of 
the country's freedom. The birthday of Israel 
was the day on which the Lord delivered them 
from the land of Egypt. And they celebrated this 
day by the feast of Passover. 

While the Lord was still speaking with Moses, 
He bade him tell the people to take a lamb for 
each family, and slay it at sunfeet, and sprinkle the 
blood with a bunch of hyssop on the lintel and the 
two side posts of their houses. Then the flesh 
was to be roasted with fire, and eaten with bitter 
herbs and cakes of unleavened bread. It was to 
be eaten in great haste, everyone having his loins 
girded, his shoes on his feet, and his staff in his 
hand, ready for the march. And none of it was 
to remain till the morning : all that was left must 
be burned with fire. As soon as they had eaten 

61 



62 THE VICTORIOUS BANNER 

the flesh, they were to set out on their journey. 
And year by year, as the day of their deliverance 
came round, they were to keep it as a festival 
for all time. 

So Moses called the elders of Israel, and bade 
them take lambs, and slay them, and sprinkle the 
blood on the doorways, and eat the flesh with 
bitter herbs and cakes of unleavened bread, as the 
Lord had spoken. He instructed them also, when 
they reached Palestine, to observe the feast after 
the same manner, they and their sons for ever. 
And when their children asked them, "What mean 
ye by this service!" they were to answer, "It is 
the sacrifice of the Lord's passover, because He 
passed over the houses of the children of Israel in 
Egypt, when He smote the Egyptians.' y 

The elders bowed their heads, and worshipped. 
Then they went and did as the Lord commanded. 
And every Easter since then, the people of Israel 
have gathered together in their homes, and ob- 
served the feast of Passover, and told their chil- 
dren how the Lord delivered them out of the hand 
of the Egyptians, and led them through the desert, 
and brought them to the Promised Land, and 
showed great mercies to them. 

The day of Passover means far more for us 
than it meant for the Israelites. For on that day 
Jesus, the Lamb of God, was slain. In the service 
of Communion we celebrate His dying love. And 
when our children ask us what is the meaning 
of that service, we tell them it is the memorial of 
what He did to save us from our sins and bring 
us home to heaven. 



THE PASSOVER 

By Christ redeemed, in Christ restored, 
We keep the memory adored, 
And show the death of our dear Lord, 
Until He come. ' ? 

George Rawson. 



XII 
A GOOD MAN'S BONES 

THE children of Israel were now ready to leave 
Egypt. But first they had a solemn duty to 
discharge. Long years before, when Joseph was 
dying, he had taken an oath of his people, saying, 
' ' God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up 
my bones from hence.' ' So they took his em- 
balmed body from the tomb where it had lain, 
placed it in a coffin, and carried it with them in all 
their wanderings till they came to Palestine. And 
there they buried it in Shechem, l i in the parcel of 
ground which Jacob bought of the sons of Hamor, 
the father of Shechem, for an hundred pieces of 
money. ' 9 

We can think of but one other funeral proces- 
sion which matches this in mournful dignity. On 
the first day of May, 1873, David Livingstone was 
found kneeling at his bed-side, dead, in a hut at 
the little village of Ilala, in the depths of Central 
Africa. His native attendants would fain have 
kept his body there; but they felt that England 
had the first claim to it. So they removed his 
heart, and buried it under a tree in Ilala, and 
carved a simple inscription on the tree. Then they 
wrapped the body in calico, lashed it to a pole to 
be carried on their shoulders, and began their 

64 



A GOOD MAN'S BONES 65 

march to the sea. For nine months the brave 
Africans bore their precious burden over moun- 
tains and deserts, rivers and swamps, cheerfully 
enduring hardships and dangers of all kinds, till 
they were able to hand it over to the British 
Consul at Zanzibar. Even then the most loyal of 
them would not leave the body of the leader they 
had loved so well, but accompanied it to England, 
and stood by on that Saturday in April, 1874 — 
almost a year after they had set out on their jour- 
ney—when it was laid to rest in Westminster 
Abbey, among the ashes of the noblest men whom 
the country has known. 

It was a true instinct that guided these simple 
hearts. For we all love to have near us the last 
remains of the great and good who have done 
much for us. And as we stand at their graves, we 
are inspired to follow in their footsteps. We seem, 
indeed, to hear their voices still speaking to us, 
and bidding us take up the work they have left 
unfinished, and carry it through to the end. 



1 ' Out of the grave our fathers reach ■ 

Dead hands to hold us here, 
And never we open the earth with tears 

But the land becomes more dear — 
Sweet with memory, brave with love, 

And proud with the hope ahead 
That our sons shall be stronger, our homes more fair, 

When we go down to the dead. ' ' 

Habold Begbie. 



xm 

THE PILLAR OF CLOUD AND FIRE 

THE journey that lay before the Israelites was 
a long and difficult one. Much of it was 
through desert country, where they had not even a 
footprint to guide them. So they might easily be 
led off the track, and fall into the hands of ene- 
mies, or be swallowed up in the blinding sand. 

Travellers in the desert might find another cara- 
van in front of them. In that case they would 
see on the far horizon the cloud of dust raised by 
the tramp of many feet, the cloud which an Arab 
poet describes as "like the smoke that rises from 
a pile of dry wood newly kindled, when fresh 
plants are mingled in the heap, and the north wind 
plays with the blazing flame." At night, too, 
when the camp-fires were lighted, they would see 
the pillar of fire that shot through the sky, flushing 
the darkness with its cheering beams. And while 
they followed the cloud and the fire, they would 
know that they were on the right path, and that 
help was near if they needed it. 

When the children of Israel were passing 
through the desert, there was no caravan ahead 
to show them the way. So the Lord Himself went 
before them, in a pillar of cloud by day, to lead 



THE PILLAR OF CLOUD AND FIRE 67 

them on their journey, and a pillar of fire by 
night, to give them light and comfort. 

We can picture the scene. Day broke, and the 
Host moved out of camp. The sun shone brightly 
above them. But all around was desolation. Sand, 
sand, nothing but sand! The bewildered people 
hardly knew where to turn. Then slowly the pillar 
of cloud rose in the distance, and they followed it 
with trustful steps. When the day's march was 
over, the sun set, and the tents were pitched for 
the night. But eerie thoughts would haunt them. 
At times the wind would howl, and the sand would 
whistle through the camp. Often, too, they would 
fancy they saw weird shapes, or heard strange 
whisperings, in the darkness. Then the pillar of 
fire flashed out, and they knew that the Lord was 
near. So they lay down to sleep in peace. 

God used to guide His people by cloud, and fire, 
and light. But now He has sent His Son Jesus to 
lead us. He knows all the way of life. When He 
was here on earth, He lived as a boy with other 
boys, and a man with other men. He threw Him- 
self into all that interests us, in our homes, our 
work, our friendships and our games. He loved 
the good things of life. He faced also its trials 
and temptations. But while we fail again and 
again, He came out victorious. As He hung on the 
Cross He could say to His Father, "It is finished.' ' 
Thus He is able to lead us rightly, to cheer us in 
our troubles, and to help us in the time of temp- 
tation. And at the close of our journey He will 
light our way through the Valley of the Shadow 
of Death to the sunshine of the Father's home. 



68 THE VICTORIOUS BANNER 

"Jesus, still lead on, 
Till our rest be won ; 
And, although the way be cheerless, 
We will follow calm and fearless : 
Guide us by Thy hand 
To our Fatherland." 

ZlNZENDOfiP. 



xrv 

CROSSING THE SEA 

THE nearest way to Palestine was along the 
coast. But the Philistines had planted them- 
selves there, and would certainly bar the way. The 
Lord was afraid lest the people might be discour- 
aged if they had so soon to fight for their free- 
dom. So He led them toward the northern tip 
of the Red Sea, a long stretch of shallow, reed-' 
grown water known as the Sea of Sedge. And 
after a few days ' march they pitched their camp at 
Pihahiroth, over against the sea. 

In the meantime Pharaoh had changed his mind, 
and said to his officers, "What is this we have 
done — to let Israel go from serving us?" So he 
got ready a great army, including six hundred of 
his best chariots, with picked captains over each, 
and pursued after the people, determined to bring 
them back again. The Egyptian host overtook the 
Israelites as they lay encamped at Pihahiroth. 
When Pharaoh saw them, he thought to himself, 
"They are trapped: they cannot escape." The 
Israelites, too, were sorely afraid, and said to 
Moses, "Was it because there were no graves in 
Egypt that thou didst take us away to die in the 
desert? Why didst thou ever bring us out of 
Egypt! Was not this the word that we spake to 



70 THE VICTORIOUS BANNER 

thee in Egypt, saying, 'Let us alone, that we may 
serve the Egyptians ; for it were better for us to 
serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert?' " 

Moses was grieved at their cowardice. But he 
himself was strong in faith, and he said to the peo- 
ple, "Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of 
the Lord, which He will work for you to-day ; for 
the Egyptians whom ye have seen to-day, ye shall 
see them again no more forever. The Lord shall 
fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace. " Then 
Moses lifted up his heart in prayer to the Lord. 
And even as he prayed, the command rang out, 
* ' Speak to the children of Israel, that they go for- 
ward!" So Moses gave the order, and they went 
forward. As they marched on, the pillar of cloud 
and fire removed itself from the van, and stood 
between them and the Egyptians, giving light to 
them, but throwing darkness upon the Egyptians. 
Then at God's bidding Moses stretched his hand 
over the sea. And a strong north-east wind be- 
gan to blow, which beat back the waters all that 
night, so that the Israelites crossed the sea as on 
dry land. 

In the morning, when the Egyptians found that 
the Israelites were gone, they yoked their chariots, 
and plunged into the sea after them. But the eye 
of the Lord flashed upon them from the midst of 
the pillar. That is, He sent thunder and lightning, 
which filled them with terror. He also poured 
down torrents of rain, which clogged the wheels of 
their chariots, and made them drive heavily. Then 
He bade Moses stretch his hand once more over 
the sea, And the wind changed, and the waters 
returned to their former channel. As soon as 



CROSSING THE SEA 71 

the Egyptians saw the tide rising upon them, they 
wheeled about, and fled towards the shore. But 
the waters caught them as they fled, and over- 
whelmed them in the midst of the sea. Of all 
Pharaoh's horsemen, there remained not one. 

Great joy broke over the ranks of the Israelites 
when they saw their enemies destroyed. We read 
that Miriam, the sister of Moses and Aaron, took 
a timbrel, or tambourine, and led the women in a 
dance of victory. And as they danced, they sang 
one to another: 

1 ' Sing to the Lord, 

Who hath triumphed so gloriously; 
The horse and his rider 
He hath hurled in the sea. ' ' 

When Moses heard them singing, he took up 
the strain, and out of their simple refrain he com- 
posed a noble hymn of praise : 

"I will sing to the Lord, 

Who hath triumphed so gloriously; 
The horse and his rider 
He hath hurled in the sea. 

"The Lord is my strength and my song, 

And He is become my salvation ; 
This is my God, and 1 11 praise Him — 

My father 's God, and I '11 laud Him : 
Jehovah, the Lord of battles, 

Jehovah is His name. 

"The chariots of Pharaoh He hath flung in the sea; 
The flower of his warriors are sunk in the Sedge. 
The waters cover them : 

They went down in the depths like a stone. 



72 THE VICTORIOUS BANNER 

"Thy right hand, Lord, is glorious in power: 
Thy right hand, Lord, doth shatter the enemy. 
By the might of Thy majesty Thou tearest down 
tyrants ; 
Thou dost send forth Thy wrath — it consumes them 
as stubble. 

"By the blast of Thy nostrils the waters were massed; 
The floods stood up like a wall : 
The deeps were congealed in the heart of the sea. 

"The enemy said: 'I'll pursue, I'll catch up, 

I'll share the spoil, I'll sate my desire on them; 
My sword I'll make bare, my hand shall destroy 
them.' 

"Thou didst blow with Thy wind; 
The sea covered them : 
They sank like a plummet in waters o 'erwhelming. 

"Who is like Thee among the gods, Lord, 
Who is like Thee, glorious in holiness ? 
Awful in praises, wondrous in deed : 

Thou didst reach out Thy hand — the earth swal- 
lowed them." 






XV 
WELLS AND PALMS 

WHEN Moses had sung his song to the Lord, 
he led his people into the desert of Shur, on 
the east side of the Sea of Sedge. For three days 
they marched through the desert, and found no 
water. At last they came to a well. But when 
they tasted the water, they found it so bitter that 
they could not drink it. So they called the name of 
the place Marah, which means "Bitter. ' ' And they 
began to murmur against Moses, saying, "What 
are we to drink ?" And once more he took his 
trouble to the Lord. 

Now there is a certain bush in the desert which 
has the power of making bitter water sweet. The 
Lord pointed out one of these bushes to Moses. 
And he cast it into the well, and the water became 
sweet. And the people drank of it, and went on 
their way refreshed. 

Soon their eyes were gladdened by the sight of 
a number of palm trees waving above the horizon. 
With quickened steps they pressed forward, and 
found a grassy place dotted with twelve wells and 
seventy palms. And they called the name of the 
place Elim, that is, "Green trees.' ' And they 
camped there for several days, slaking their thirst 
at the wells, and resting on the fresh green grass 
and under the grateful shade of the trees. 

73 



74 THE VICTORIOUS BANNER 

I think John Bunyan must often have had this 
scene in mind when he was writing The Pilgrim's 
Progress. For the book is full of wells, and run- 
ning streams, and grass, and trees. At the foot 
of the hill Difficulty, you remember, there is a 
spring, at which Christian refreshes himself be- 
fore he begins to climb. Then about half-way to 
the top he finds ' ' a pleasant arbour, made by the 
Lord of the hill, ' ' where he lies down for a little 
to rest. The Interpreter's House has its garden, 
with "a great variety of flowers. ,, The banks of 
the river of the water of life are carpeted with 
tracts of green sward, which Christian and his 
companion find "very pleasant and enlivening to 
their weary spirits.' ' And the Delectable Moun- 
tains are "a most pleasant mountainous country, 
beautified with woods, vineyards, fruits of all 
sorts, flowers also, with springs and fountains," 
where the Pilgrims eat and drink, wash and re- 
fresh themselves, before they pass on to Beulah 
Land, that sunny place of flowers and birds and 
angels, which lies in full view of the Celestial City. 

Now all this is a true picture of life. We may 
sometimes have to march through the desert, or 
to fight to the death with evil. Yet our lives are 
rich in sweet green spots like Elim. For most of 
us, childhood is a happy land of bubbling springs, 
gardens, and orchards. Even when we grow older, 
there are many Elims to refresh us on our journey. 
Home is the dearest of all our Elims. There we 
shake off: the dust from our feet, and drink deep 
draughts of the best happiness in life. Friendship 
is an Elim. He who is blessed with true friend- 
ships has a never-failing spring of happiness in his 



WELLS AND PALMS 75 

heart. The Sabbath is an Elim in the midst of 
the week's toil and bustle. And our holidays may 
be Elims, if we spend them in the open air, revel- 
ling in the beauty of heaven and earth and sea, 
bringing our minds into sympathy with God's 
wonderful works, and praising Him for His great 
goodness. 

We can even make our whole life an Elim. The 
name of Hans Andersen is dear to boys and girls 
because of his delightful Fairy Tales. But he de- 
serves to be loved for his own sake as well. He 
was the son of a poor shoemaker. He had a hard 
struggle with misfortunes of every kind. Even 
when he was writing his books, he was laughed at 
as a dreamer of idle dreams. Yet he seemed al- 
ways to be overflowing with happiness. He loved 
God as his Father, and Jesus as his elder Brother. 
He loved God's family on earth, especially the lit- 
tle children, the birds and the beasts. So he found 
happiness in all things. He used to say, "Life is 
the most lovely of fairy tales, and I often ask 
myself, with heartfelt emotion, Why does God 
grant me so much happiness V J On his death-bed 
he was heard to murmur, ' ' Oh, how happy I am ! 
How beautiful the world is! Life is so beautiful! 
It is just as if I were sailing into a land far, far 
away, where there is no pain, no sorrow. ' ' 

Another of our favourite authors is Eobert 
Louis Stevenson. He had to fight with sickness all 
his life. As a child he spent many painful weeks 
in bed. Most of his later years he was an exile 
from country and friends. But he never ceased to 
be cheerful. WTiile he was lying ill in bed, he sang 
of "the pleasant land of counterpane." And in 



76 THE VICTORIOUS BANNER 

the midst of his sufferings he had a kind smile 
and word for everyone. His happiness also 
sprang from love. Like Hans Andersen, he loved 
God's beautiful world. He had a real passion for 
the heather hills of Scotland, as well as for the 
sunny isles of the Pacific. He loved the wild 
moors, the glens, and the meadows. He loved 

" Every path and every plot, 
Every bush of roses, 
Every blue forget-me-not, 
Where the dew reposes.' ' 

He loved men and women, boys and girls. He was 
devoted to his parents, his aunt, and his dear 
nurse, Alison Cunningham, "the Angel of my in- 
fant life/' to whom he dedicates the charming 
book, A Child's Garden of Verses. When he had 
a home of his own, he was the best of fathers to 
his two stepchildren, Lloyd and Isobel Osbourne. 
But his heart went out in love to all God's chil- 
dren. He was the friend of the poor passengers 
on board the emigrant ship, the rough miners in 
California, and the simple natives of Samoa, who 
returned his kindness by building for him "the 
Road of the Loving Heart." And the source of 
his love to others was his love for the Unseen 
Playmate who had been with him from his child- 
hood. For there is more than simple fancy in 
the verse: 

' ' He lies in the laurels, He runs on the grass, 
He sings when you tinkle the musical glass ; 
Whene 'er you are happy and cannot tell why, 
The Friend of the Children is sure to be by !" 



WELLS AND PALMS 77 

It is from this Friend of the Children that all 
of us learn the secret of happiness. He was poor 
and needy. Often He had no roof to shelter Him 
from the storm. He was scorned, insulted, and 
persecuted. He was condemned by unjust judges, 
and nailed to the Cross. But His heart was al- 
ways welling over with happiness. Even at the 
Last Supper, when He looked death in the face, 
He could say to His disciples, " These things have 
I spoken unto you, that my joy may be in you, and 
that your joy may be full." He was so happy 
because He was so loving. And if we love as He 
did, He will open wells of happiness in our hearts 
that shall spring up unto life eternal. 

"Be Thou the well by which I lie and rest ; 
Be Thou my tree of life, my garden ground ; 
Be Thou my home, my fire, my chamber blest, 
My book of wisdom, loved of all the best ; 
Oh, be my Friend, each day still newer found, 
As the eternal days and nights go round ! 
Nay, nay, — Thou art my God, in whom all loves are 
bound. ,, 

George Macdonald. 



XVI 

QUAILS AND MANNA 

"IITHEN they had rested long enough at Elim, 
* » the children of Israel went on to the desert 
of Sin, which lies between Elim and Sinai. Day 
after day they journeyed, hut found nothing to 
eat. The bread they had in their wallets was 
fast becoming spent, and it seemed as if they 
must soon die of hunger. So they began once 
more to murmur against Moses and Aaron, say- 
ing, "Why did ye bring us into this wilderness, 
to slay us all with hunger! Would that we had 
died by the hand of the Lord in Egypt, when we 
sat by the flesh pots, and ate bread to the full!'' 

Moses and Aaron were cut to the quick by their 
murmurings, and said to them, "What are we, 
that ye murmur against us? We are but the 
hands of the Lord. So your murmurings are not 
against us, but against Him." And they prayed 
to the Lord in their trouble. And straightway He 
answered, "I have heard the murmurings of the 
children of Israel : so then speak unto them, say- 
ing, ' At even ye shall eat flesh, and in the morning 
ye shall be filled with bread; and ye shall know 
that I am Jehovah your God.' " And Moses and 
Aaron spoke to them, saying, "The Lord shall 
give you in the evening flesh to eat, and in the 

78 



QUAILS AND MANNA 79 

morning bread to the full; then ye shall see the 
glory of the Lord, and ye shall know that it was 
He that brought you out of the land of Egypt. ' ' 

Now it came to pass in the evening that a strong 
wind blew from the south. And there came up 
with the wind a great flight of quails. These are 
small birds of the same family as the partridge, 
which migrate every spring from Arabia and 
other southern countries to the coasts of Asia 
Minor and Malta, returning to their old homes to- 
wards the end of September. They always fly 
with the wind, and alight on the ground at sun- 
set, being usually so exhausted that they can easily 
be caught by hand. They are much relished as 
food by the people of Egypt and Southern Europe, 
who not merely eat them fresh, but also cure them 
by spreading them out to dry in the sun. 

That evening the quails came in such numbers 
that they covered all the ground about the camp 
of the Israelites. And the hungry people caught 
and ate with great joy. No doubt, also, they would 
cure many of them to eat in the days to come, 
as we learn they did later on, when a second flight 
of quails passed over the camp. 

As the Lord had promised, the morning brought 
them new cause for joy. For after the dew had 
risen, they saw the face of the desert covered with 
thin flakes of a substance white and small as the 
hoar frost. They tasted it, and found it sweet 
like honeyed pastry. This was manna, the juice 
of a shrub called Tarfa, which still grows abun- 
dantly in the desert of Sin. The juice trickles by 
night from the stem and branches of the tree, and 
in the early morning hardens into small round 



80 THE VICTORIOUS BANNER 

grains which drop to the ground. And there it 
lies till it is picked up, or else melts in the sun- 
shine. 

When Moses saw the manna, he said to the peo- 
ple, ' ' This is the bread which the Lord hath given 
you to eat : go and gather of it every man accord- 
ing to his needs." So they went and gathered 
each an omer, that is, about six and a half pints. 
And this they did as long as the manna fell. 
"They gathered it morning by morning, every 
man according to his needs; and when the sun 
waxed hot, that which remained on the ground 
melted away." 

The Lord who fed the Israelites in the wilder- 
ness still gives His people bread. Often He works 
for them miracles as great as those of the Exodus. 
Lives of men like Mungo Park and Livingstone 
are brimful of wonders. "When they were faint 
with hunger, God spread for them ' ' a table in the 
wilderness, ' ' as Park devoutly calls it. Sometimes 
He led them to ripe fruit trees. Or He brought 
some stray animal within range of their rifles. 
At other times He moved the heart of a poor 
native woman to share her scanty meal with them. 
On Livingstone's return to Ujiji, lonely, wearied, 
sick almost to death, and robbed of food, clothing 
and medicine, He sent him "the good Samaritan," 
as he says, in the person of Henry M. Stanley, who 
had come all the way from America to bring him 
what he needed. And the brave man poured out 
his soul in praise to God, and went on his way 
with fresh heart and hope. 

But it is not only in these wonderful ways that 
the Lord feeds His people. Sir Walter Scott once 



QUAILS AND MANNA 81 

wrote to a young friend: "The older you grow, 
the more you will be thankful that the finest of 
God's mercies are common mercies." Yes! the 
finest of God's mercies are common mercies. But 
we are not always so thankful for these mercies 
as we ought to be. Often we eat our daily bread 
without a word of thanksgiving to God. Yet it is 
He who gives us all we have. He supplies the 
air we breathe. He keeps the sea filled with fish 
for our use. He clothes the earth with grass for 
the creatures that provide our milk, and meat, and 
clothing. He sends the sunshine and showers that 
ripen the crops and bring us rich harvests of 
grain. 

"Back of the loaf is the snowy flour, 
And back of the flour is the mill, 
And back of the mill is the wheat, and the shower, 
And the sun, and the Father 's will. ' ' 

M. D. Babcock. 



XVII 
THE UPLIFTED HANDS 

THE Israelites were now to have their first 
taste of war. They had pitched their tents 
in the valley of Kephidim, on the eastern edge of 
the desert of Sin, and were qnietly resting or 
watering their flocks when suddenly they were 
attacked by an armed band of Amalekites. Moses 
was too old for battle. So he handed over the 
command to his young friend Joshua, the son of 
Nun, while he himself went with Aaron and Hur, 
who is said to have been the husband of Miriam, 
to the hill-top above the valley, to pray for God's 
help in the fight. 

The battle was hot and fierce. So long as Moses 
held up his hands in prayer, the victory lay on 
Israel's side. But when he grew weary and 
dropped his hands, the tide turned, and Amalek 
began to win. Then Aaron and Hur took a stone, 
and placed it for Moses to rest on ; and they stood 
one on each side of him, steadily propping up his 
hands until the going down of the sun. Thus 
Moses prayed all afternoon without ceasing. And 
the Lord answered his prayer. For under the 
shadow of the uplifted hands Joshua fought and 
conquered the Amalekites, smiting them with the 
edge of the sword, and leaving not a man in arms 
to oppose him. 

82 



THE UPLIFTED HANDS 83 

The scene reminds lis of a striking incident in 
Scottish history. The lines were formed for the 
battle of Bannockburn, and King Edward of Eng- 
land had given the order to advance. It seemed 
impossible for the small Scottish army to stand 
its ground. But as the trumpets rang out, every 
man knelt for a moment in silent prayer to God. 
When Edward saw them kneel, he cried out joy- 
fully, "Yon folk kneel to ask mercy. " "Yes!" 
replied a brave knight who stood near him, Sir 
Ingram d' Umfraville, "they ask mercy, but not 
of you. It is to God they cry. And I tell you one 
thing truly: These men will all win or die." It 
was as Sir Ingram had said. The praying Scottish 
warriors might die — and many of them did die — 
but they would never yield to the invader. And 
by God's help they won that day a crowning vic- 
tory for freedom. 

Good soldiers like Cromwell and Washington, 
Gordon and Eoberts, teach us ever afresh that 
"prayer is the very sword of the saints." When 
Cromwell became an officer in the Parliamentary 
Army, he found the ranks filled with drunken, 
swearing fellows, who were driven like chafT be- 
fore the fierce charges of the gentlemen of Eng- 
land; but after he had gathered about him the 
Ironsides, who were men of prayer like himself, 
he could truthfully say, ' ' From that day forward 
they were never beaten, and wherever they were 
engaged against the enemy, they beat continu- 
ally." It was noticed of Washington, too, that in 
his hottest campaigns he was most careful to lay 
aside some time for daily prayer, and urged his 
men to follow his example. Nor did he ever fail 



84 THE VICTORIOUS BANNER 

to acknowledge God's help in giving him the vic- 
tory. General Gordon used to retire to his tent 
every morning for one half -hour of prayer, leav- 
ing his handkerchief at the door as a signal that 
he was engaged with God, and must not be dis- 
turbed by anyone. Thus amid all kinds of diffi- 
culties he was able to lick his raw recruits into 
what was afterwards known as the Ever Vic- 
torious Army. Lord Eoberts was another man of 
faith and prayer, who confessed quite openly that 
without God he could have had no success. 

The last great war has taught us the lesson 
anew. From General to private, men fought with 
the sword of prayer as well as the sword of steel. 
Before every great crisis Marshal Foch spent 
much time on his knees ; and he rose up strength- 
ened by the power of God for the battle. Sir 
Douglas Haig never missed the hour of worship 
and prayer. General Pershing was as devout a 
man as either. And their spirit passed through 
all the ranks. There were times of desperate need 
when even profane men prayed. In every land, 
too, the voice of prayer was heard as it had never 
been heard before. On one memorable occasion, 
when the news of the British retreat had come to 
the War Cabinet, the members sat for a while in 
deathly silence. Then one of them said, "It's 
Heaven help us now!" The Prime Minister 
caught up the words: "That's just where we are. 
Let us ask Heaven ! ' ' And the Conference became 
a prayer meeting. 

But it is not only in the war with flesh and blood 
that we need God's help. Our worst enemies are 
the temptations to evil that lie in our own hearts. 



THE UPLIFTED HANDS 85 

And there is no better way of beating these 
enemies than by prayer. As General Gordon 
wrote to his sister, it not only gives us the mastery 
over our temptations, but it takes away the very 
wish to do evil, and fills our hearts with a love 
for what is good. 

Prayer helps us in other troubles as well. I 
suppose no one had ever so many difficulties to 
contend with as Livingstone in the course of his 
last African journey. But he laid all of them be- 
fore the Lord in prayer. Then he was able to 
meet them with a stout heart and a smiling face. 
His friend Stanley learned the same secret of 
strength and happiness. In the story he wrote of 
his own life he says: "On all my expeditions, 
prayer made me stronger, morally and mentally, 
than any of my non-praying companions. It did 
not blind my eyes, or dull my mind, or close my 
ears; but on the contrary it gave me confidence. 
It did more : it gave me joy and pride in my work, 
and lifted me hopefully over the one thousand five 
hundred miles of forest tracks, eager to face the 
day's perils and fatigues." 

We have not difficulties like theirs. But we have 
all troubles of our own. Sometimes our lessons 
are very hard. Try as we may, we do not seem 
able to master them. Or we feel our work at home 
irksome. Often, too, our friends vex us. They 
will not fall in with our plans, or they are quarrel- 
some and spoil the game. So we are cross and 
irritable. If we learned to take these troubles to 
God, we should be wonderfully helped. And we 
do not need always to go on our knees with them. 
We can think little prayers, even while we are 



86 THE VICTORIOUS BANNER 

busy at our work or play. And we shall find God 
as near to answer as when we kneel at our bed- 
side. 

"Speak to Him, thou, for He hears, 

And Spirit with Spirit can meet — 
Closer is He than breathing, 
And nearer than hands and feet. ' 9 

Tennyson, 



XVIII 
THE LORD MY BANNER 

AN army on the field marches with colours fly- 
ing. Above the quarters of the General floats 
the national Standard : the Union Jack, the Stars 
and Stripes, or the French tricolour. Each regi- 
ment has also its own flag, emblazoned with the 
names of famous victories in the past. When 
battle is joined, the flag is the centre of attack. 
If it be carried to the enemy's position, the battle 
is won ; if it be captured, or trailed on the ground, 
the battle is lost. Thus in the days of close war- 
fare the hottest fights were always round the flag. 
For the honour of the flag men would do the most 
daring deeds of valour. To save it from dishonour 
they would gladly give up their lives. 

The reason is simply that the flag stands for 
country. Honour to the flag is honour to the coun- 
try; dishonour to the flag is dishonour to the 
country. 

When the children of Israel were marching 
through the desert, they had no flag to rally round. 
But after the Amalekites were defeated, Moses 
set up an altar, and called it Jehovah-nissi, ' * The 
Lord is my banner.' ' He meant that the battle 
had been fought for His honour, and that the vic- 
tory would help on the cause He had at heart. In 
building the altar, he wished to dedicate the peo- 

87 



88 THE VICTORIOUS BANNER 

pie afresh to His service. And if they were loyal 
to the flag, he could promise them victory over 
all their enemies, and a sure reward at the close 
of the campaign. 

The banner which Moses set up at Eephidim 
had no emblem worked into it. But the flag we 
follow has the sign of the Cross. The story of 
how it was first raised in battle is of deep interest. 

In the year 306 Constantine the Great succeeded 
his father Constantius as Roman Emperor. He 
was then commanding the Imperial troops in 
Britain, and could not return to Rome for several 
years. In his absence a rival General, named 
Maxentius, had himself proclaimed Emperor by 
his army, and ruled with great violence and injus- 
tice. Constantine quietly bided his time. At last, 
in the spring of 312, he crossed the Alps, and 
marched against his enemy. One night during 
the march he had a wonderful dream. He saw be- 
fore him a shining white Cross, and underneath 
it the words, In hoc signo vmces, "In this sign 
thou shalt conquer. ' ' He was not yet a Christian, 
but he took it as a sign from heaven. So he made 
the Cross his emblem, and went on bravely to 
battle. The two armies met at the Mulvian 
Bridge near Rome. Constantine won a brilliant 
victory, and ascended the throne without further 
opposition. Soon he became an earnest Chris- 
tian, and did all he could to make Christianity the 
religion of the Empire. 

Since that day many wars have been fought 
under the sign of the Cross. The most famous 
were the Crusades of the Middle Ages, when the 
bravest soldiers of Europe poured into Palestine, 



THE LORD MY BANNER 89 

eager to wrest the Holy Sepulchre from the hand 
of the Turks. The Scottish wars of the Covenant 
were also wars for the Cross. And every war for 
freedom and justice has been inspired by that 
sign. 

But these are not the only wars for the Cross. 
Nor are those who fight in them the only soldiers 
of the Cross. The missionary of Christ to the 
heathen is a real Crusader. For he seeks to carry 
the Cross to triumph to the ends of the earth. 
But we do not need to leave our homes to become 
Crusaders. Everyone is a Crusader who follows 
the standard of Jesus Christ. If we wish, then, 
to be good soldiers of the Cross, we must be true 
to our colours. We must never be ashamed to own 
our Lord, or to defend His cause. We must be 
proud to follow Him, ready to honour Him, and 
brave to do His will. Then we shall be con- 
querors in the fight with evil. And at the end 
we shall receive the victor's crown of glory. 

"Brightly gleams our banner, 
Pointing to the sky, 
Waving on Christ 's soldiers 
To their home on high. 

"Marching through the desert, 
Gladly thus we pray, 
Still with hearts united, 
Singing on our way. 

"When the march is over, 
Then come rest and peace, 
Jesus in His»beauty, 

Songs that never cease.' ' 

T. J. Potter. 



XIX 

THE VOICE OF THE LORD 

FROM Rephidim it was but a short distance to 
Sinai, or Horeb, the mount of God. The dis- 
tance was soon covered. And in the third month 
after they left Egypt, the children of Israel en- 
camped on the grassy plain under the mount, 
where Moses had seen the vision of God in the 
burning bush. 

It must have been with a strange rapture in 
his heart that he stood once more on the sacred 
spot. Perhaps he hoped to see the light of God 
still playing on the bush. But the vision had gone. 
Instead of that, a thick cloud rested on the top 
of the mountain. Then the thunder began to roar, 
and the lightning to flash. And all the people in 
the camp trembled with fear. But Moses had 
learned to see God in all things. So he went boldly 
up and down the mountain. And where others 
felt nothing but gloom and terror, he had a new 
sense of God's glory, and heard His voice pealing 
out the great commandments of life. 

If we have ears to hear, God may still speak 
to us through cloud and storm. It was the voice 
of God in the thunder that led Martin Luther into 
the monastery of Erfurt, where he found the open 
Bible, and so became the father of the Reforma- 
tion. And a modern poet like Tennyson can sing: 

90 



THE VOICE OF THE LORD 91 

"God is law, say the wise ; Soul, and let us rejoice, 
For if He thunder by law, the thunder is yet His 
voice. 7 ' 

But He speaks to us usually in the still, small 
voice of conscience, which tells us so clearly when 
we are right and wrong. 

The famous American preacher, Theodore 
Parker, has given us the story of how he first 
heard the voice. He was then a little boy of four. 
His father had taken him out for a short walk, 
but sent him home alone. On the way he passed 
a shallow pond, where a young tortoise was sun- 
ning itself. In a spirit of boyish mischief he 
raised a stick to strike it. But all at once, he says, 
something checked his arm, and a voice within 
him spoke out clear and loud, "It is wrong.' ' He 
dropped the stick, hurried home, told his mother 
the story, and asked her what voice it was that 
had spoken to him. She wiped a tear from her 
eye, and taking him in her arms said, "Some men 
call it conscience, but I prefer to call it the voice 
of God. If you listen and obey it, then it will 
speak clearer and clearer, and always guide you 
right ; but if you turn a deaf ear and disobey, then 
it will fade out little by little, and leave you all 
in the dark and without a guide. Your life de- 
pends on your heeding that little voice. ' ' 

The sting of a bad conscience is real torture to 
the soul. No one has described it so well as 
Shakespeare in his Tragedy of King Richard the 
Third: 

"My conscience hath a thousand several tongues, 
And every tongue brings in a several tale, 
And every tale condemns me for a villain. ' ' 



92 THE VICTORIOUS BANNER 

It is still worse when we refuse to hear the warn- 
ing voice. For awhile it may continue to trouble 
us. But its edge will grow duller and duller, 
until it ceases altogether to prick. Then we shall 
have nothing left to guide us. We may even go 
far wrong without knowing it. You remember 
how the Pharisees spoke of Jesus ' mighty works 
as done by Beelzebub the prince of the devils, and 
how at last they crucified Him, with the idea that 
they were pleasing God. Their conscience had 
become so blinded by hatred that they could not 
distinguish right and wrong. This was what Jesus 
meant by sin against the Holy Grhost. 

If we wish to be guided surely in all our ways, 
we must pay much heed to conscience. The more 
closely we follow it, the more clearly will it speak. 
Then we shall have a wonderful peace and joy 
in our hearts. This also has been finely described 
by Shakespeare through the lips of the fallen 
Wolsey, now come to himself and the Father. 
When his servant Cromwell asks him how he is, he 
answers cheerfully: 

" Why, well : never so truly happy, Cromwell. 
I know myself now ; and I feel within me 
A peace above all earthly dignities, 
A still and quiet conscience. ' ' 



XX 

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS 

THE people were still too terrified to hear the 
voice of God. So they begged Moses to go 
up the mountain again, and bring them the mes- 
sage in a way they could understand. At the bid- 
ding of God he took two tables of stone in his 
hand. He allowed no one to accompany him but 
Joshua, whom he left in the lower parts of the 
mountain. Then he himself entered into the midst 
of the cloud that lay on the top of it. And there 
he remained for forty days and nights, listening 
to the word of God, and chiselling out the Com- 
mandments on the two tables of stone. 

In the simple form in which they appeared on 
the tables, the Ten Commandments would run as 
follows : — 

I am Jehovah thy God. 
I. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 
II. Thou shalt not make unto thee any carved image. 

III. Thou shalt not take the name of Jehovah thy God 

in vain. 

IV. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. 
V. Honour thy father and thy mother. 

VI. Thou shalt do no murder. 
VII. Thou shalt not commit adultery. 
VIII. Thou shalt not steal. 



94 THE VICTORIOUS BANNER 

IX. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy 

neighbour. 
X. Thou shalt not covet any thing that is thy neigh- 
bour's. 

These Ten Commandments cover the chief 
duties of life. He who keeps them with a good 
conscience is safe from all gross sin. But one may 
keep the Commandments, and yet be far from 
perfect. The rich young ruler had observed them 
all from his youth up, but he felt there was some- 
thing lacking, and he came to Jesus for guidance. 
And at once the Master placed His finger on the 
weak spot. To be good, it is not enough to shun 
what is evil. We must do right, both to Grod and 
to one another. Thus, instead of ten, Jesus gave 
us' two New Commandments : — 

I. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, 
and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with 
all thy mind. 

II. Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 

The old Greeks had a fable about the Sirens, 
lovely sea nymphs that sat on a rock called Scylla, 
and by their beautiful singing lured sailors to 
destruction. It happened that Ulysses was pass- 
ing that way on his voyage. Being warned by 
the goddess Circe, he stopped the ears of his sail- 
ors with wax, and then had himself lashed to the 
mast by strong cords. When they reached the 
spot, the sailors could not hear the music of the 
Sirens, and so steered the vessel safely past. 
Ulysses was enchanted by the sound, and 
struggled to break his cords. But they held him 



THE TEN COMMANDMENTS 95 

tightly to the mast. Soon he was carried beyond 
the point of danger, and the music died away in 
the distance. 

Some time afterwards the Argonauts were sail- 
ing that same way. But they had the famous 
Orpheus on board. When they came near the 
rock, Orpheus took up his lyre, and poured forth 
such heavenly music that the sailors had no ears 
for the Siren songs. In despair the Sirens leapt 
into the sea, and their spell was broken for ever. 

The Ten Commandments are like the cords that 
bound Ulysses. They may keep us on the right 
line of life, but they have no power to win our 
hearts. The New Commandments of Jesus are 
like the music of Orpheus. They fill our hearts 
with a charm that breaks the spell of evil. If we 
love God with all our strength, we shall never 
think of dishonouring Him in any way. If we love 
our neighbours as ourselves, we shall never do 
them harm by word or deed. Instead, we shall try 
all we can to please God, and to treat one another 
as we should like to be treated ourselves. 

But it may be said, we cannot love to order. No ! 
we cannot love to order, even if Jesus commands 
us. We love only when our hearts are moved by 
love. And that is really how Jesus makes us love. 
His Commandments are no hard and fast orders. 
They are just the natural bidding of love. His 
life was one of pure, warm love to God and man. 
He loved the Father with all His heart. He loved 
every man and woman, even those who had sunk 
deep in sin. He loved them so much that he died 
for them. He loved little children. He took them 
in His arms, and blessed them. And He loves us 



96 THE VICTORIOUS BANNER 

just as tenderly as He loved them. He rejoices 
with us when we are glad. He is full of sympathy 
with us when we are in trouble. He helps us out 
of our difficulties. He saves us from evil. He 
wishes to make our lives bright and good. And 
if we let His love into our hearts, we shall love 
Him as readily as we love our fathers and mothers. 
Then we shall love as He loved, and live as He 
lived. 

"Oh, dearly, dearly has He loved! 
And we must love Him too ; 
And trust in His redeeming blood, 
And try His works to do. ' ' 

C. F. Alexander. 



XXI 

THE GOLDEN CALF 

MOSES stayed so long on the top of Mount 
Sinai that the people thought they would 
never see him again. So they came to Aaron, and 
said, "Up, make us a god, who shall go before us !" 
And Aaron bade them break off their golden ear- 
rings, and bring them to him. And they did so. 
Then Aaron melted down the gold, and with a 
carving tool shaped it into the image of a young 
bull. And when the people saw it, they raised 
a shout, saying, "This is the god, Israel, that 
brought thee up from the land of Egypt.' ' And 
Aaron built an altar before it, and proclaimed a 
feast for the next day. So early that morning the 
people rose up, and offered sacrifices on the altar; 
then they sat down to eat and drink, and after- 
wards they began to sing and dance in honour 
of the image. 

On the same day Moses was returning from the 
mount, with the two tables of stone in his hands. 
He had just met with Joshua when the noise of 
the revelry smote on their ears. Joshua was 
alarmed, and said, "There is a sound of war in 
the camp. ' ' But Moses answered him, saying, ' i It 
is neither the sound of the victors, nor the sound 
of the vanquished, but the sound of singers, that 
I hear." When he came nearer the camp, and 

97 



98 THE VICTORIOUS BANNER 

saw the people dancing round the calf, his anger 
waxed hot, and he threw the tables of stone out 
of his hands, and dashed them in pieces at the foot 
of the mount. Then he took the calf, and melted 
it in the fire, ground it into powder, and scattered 
it on water, and made the people drink it. 

Next he turned upon Aaron, and said, "What 
wrong did this people do thee, that thou hast 
brought so great a sin upon them?" And Aaron 
tried to excuse himself, saying, "Let not the anger 
of my lord wax hot! Thou knowest the people, 
how set they are on evil. For they said to me, 
'Make us a god, who shall go before us, for as 
for this Moses — the man that brought us up from 
Egypt — we know not what is become of him.' 
And I said to them, ' Whosoever hath any gold, let 
him break it off!' So they gave it to me; and I 
cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf. ' ' 

These words made Moses still more angry. So 
he stood at the gate of the camp, and called out, 
"He that is on the Lord's side, let him come unto 
me!" At once there gathered about him all the 
tribe of Levi. And Moses said to them, "Thus 
saith the Lord God of Israel, ' Gird every man his 
sword upon his thigh, and pass up and down the 
camp from gate to gate, and slay every man his 
brother, his comrade, and his neighbour.' " And 
the Levites did according to the word of Moses. 
And there fell that day of the people about three 
thousand men. 

It was a terrible punishment. But the worship 
of idols had to be put down, just as mutiny has 
to be put down in an army. Only then could they 
go forward in safety. 



THE GOLDEN CALF 99 

We no longer make images of gold. But there 
are other forms of idolatry which are as displeas- 
ing to the Lord. Gold itself may be an idol. 
There are people among us, like Shylock in The 
Merchant of Venice, who think and dream of noth- 
ing but gold, and count human life cheap as dust 
if it stands in the way of their gain. Amusement 
also may be an idol. Even our work, our books, 
and our friendships may be idols, if they turn our 
affections away from God. 

Now we must remember that all these things are 
good if they are rightly used. They only become 
idols when they take the place of God. So the 
way to keep from idolatry is to give Him the 
warmest spot in our hearts, and enjoy our money, 
our amusements, our work, our books, and our 
friendships as if He were enjoying them with us. 
Our delight in life will not be lessened by doing 
so. We shall, no doubt, cease to care for pleasures 
that are low and false. But all that gives us real 
enjoyment will become more attractive than ever. 
As Jesus said, if we put God first, all other good 
things will be added to us. 

"The dearest idol I have known, 
Whate 'er that idol be, 
Help me to tear it from Thy throne, 
And worship only Thee. 

' ' So shall my walk be close with God, 
Calm and serene my frame ; 
So purer light shall mark the road 
That leads me to the Lamb/' 

W. Cowper. 



XXII 
A SHINING FACE 

MOSES was justly grieved at the people's 
idolatry. But his heart was torn with sor- 
row for them. So next morning he went to the 
Lord, and pleaded with Him to forgive their sin. 
He was willing even to offer his life for their sake. 
"0 Lord!" he said, "this people have sinned a 
great sin by making them a god of gold : yet now, 
I pray Thee, forgive their sin; and if not, blot 
my name out of the book of life which Thou hast 
written ! ' ' 

He then begged the Lord to let him see His face, 
so that he might know Him better, and thus be 
able to guide His people more wisely. But the 
Lord said to Moses, i l Thou canst not see my face ; 
for no man shall see my face and live." Never- 
theless, He bade him go up the mountain again the 
next morning, and promised that He would show 
Mm the glory of His character. He asked Moses 
also to take with him two fresh tables of stone, to 
replace the tables he had broken in his anger. 

As soon as the sun had risen, Moses went up to 
Mount Sinai, with the two tables of stone in his 
hands, as the Lord had commanded him. When 
lie entered the cloud at the top of the mountain, 
lie called upon the name of the Lord. And the 

100 



A SHINING FACE 101 

Lord passed by, saying, "I am Jehovah, Jehovah, 
a God compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, 
and full of love and truth, keeping my love for 
thousands, and forgiving iniquity, transgression,, 
and sin, but that will by no means clear the guilty, 
visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the chil- 
dren, and upon the children's children, even to 
the third and the fourth generation. ' ' 

When Moses heard these words, he bowed his. 
head to the earth, and worshipped, saying, "If 
now I have found grace in Thy sight, Lord, I 
pray Thee, go in the midst of us — for this is a 
stiffnecked people — and pardon our iniquity and 
our sin, and make us Thine own inheritance!" 
And the Lord listened to his prayer, and promised 
to lead the people on their way, and to do such 
wonders for them that all the nations should see 
and acknowledge His working. But he warned 
him not to make any kind of covenant with these 
nations, lest the people should be tempted to for- 
sake the Lord, and go astray after other gods. 
And Moses gave heed to all the words of the 
Lord. And he remained there for another period 
of forty days and nights, the Lord speaking with 
him "as a man speaketh unto his friend.' ' And 
in the course of these forty days he carved the 
Ten Commandments on the new tables of stone. 

Once more Moses came down from the mount, 
with the two tables in his hands. He called to- 
gether Aaron and the people, to tell them what 
the Lord had spoken to him. But now a strange 
thing happened. The skin of his face shone sa 
brightly that the people were afraid to come near 
him. Moses himself knew nothing about it. But 



102 THE VICTORIOUS BANNER 

when they told him, he put a veil over his face. 
And this he did as often as he spoke to the people. 
But when he went into the presence of the Lord, 
he took the veil off, and spoke with Him "face to 
face. ' ' 

I think we can understand how it was that 
Moses' face shone. He had been so near to God 
on Mount Sinai that he became like a mirror" in 
which the glory of God was reflected. For the 
same reason Jesus ' face shone as He prayed with 
His disciples on the Mount of Transfiguration. 

We may still see the shining face when people 
are carried away by some great tide of feeling. 
One who heard Jenny Lind sing has told us : "I 
saw a plain girl when I went in ; but when she be- 
gan to sing, her face literally shone like that of 
an angel." Much the same thing has been said 
of Lincoln's speeches. As he sat on the platform, 
his face was all drawn and haggard. But when 
he stood up to speak, "he was transformed; his 
eye kindled, his voice rang, his face shone and 
seemed to light up the whole assembly." 

But that which makes the face shine most 
brightly is love. You know how sweetly mother 
smiles when she gives us some kind gift. Her 
whole face seems to be lit up with love. And you 
may see the same look on the faces of other good 
men and women. As J. M. Barrie says, "Those 
who bring sunshine into the lives of others cannot 
keep it from themselves." There are many peo- 
ple, indeed, who carry sunshine on their faces all 
the time. Miss Irene Petrie, the Indian mission- 
ary, used to be known as The Sunbeam. Another 



A SHINING FACE 103 

missionary heroine, Mrs. Orr Ewing, was called 
Glory-face. The greatest man I have ever known, 
the late Principal Rainy, had ' ' a face like a bene- 
diction." And his little grandchild had learned 
the secret of it when she said, i ' Grandpapa must 
go to heaven every night, because he is so happy in 
the morning. " Like Moses, he lived much with 
God on the mount; "and the skin of his face 
shone while God talked with him. 

To wear the shining face, we do not need to have 
everything we could wish. You may have read 
the Life of Helen Keller. Since her infancy she 
has been blind and deaf, unable to see the beauty 
of the world, or to hear the pleasant voices of 
those she loves. Yet all who have met her speak 
of her shining face. When she was just eight 
years old, a gentleman said to her father, ' ' I have 
lived long, and seen many happy faces ; but I have 
never seen such a radiant face as this child's." 
Many years afterwards she spoke of herself as 
"the happiest girl in the world." And she gave 
this as the reason: "The thought that my dear 
Heavenly Father is always near, giving me abun- 
dantly of all those things which truly enrich life 
and make it sweet and beautiful, makes every 
deprivation seem of little moment compared with 
the countless blessings I enjoy." 

This is the way to be really happy : to love God, 
and to be grateful to Him for His goodness. Jesus 
wishes us all to have this happiness in our hearts. 
But He wishes us also to let our happiness shine 
out upon others, so that they may become as happy 
as we are. 



104. THE VICTORIOUS BANNER 

"Jesus bids us shine 

With a pure, clear light, 
Like a little candle 

Burning in the night. 
In this world of darkness 

So let us shine — 
You in your small corner, 

And I in mine." 

Susan Warner. 



XXIII 
THE TENT OF MEETING 

IT was now time for the children of Israel to go 
forward on their journey. The Lord had 
promised to be with them. So He asked Moses 
to prepare an Ark, or sacred Chest, to hold the 
two tables of stone. He bade him also set up a 
Tabernacle, or Tent of Meeting, where the people 
could gather together for worship. And Moses 
obeyed the word of the Lord. First he summoned 
the people, and told them what the Lord had asked 
of him. Then he invited them to bring gifts for 
the building. And he chose two skilled architects, 
Bezaleel and Aholiab, to superintend the work. So 
they built the Ark and the Tabernacle according 
to the pattern that the Lord had shown Moses on 
the mount. And in all their wanderings they car- 
ried the Ark at the head of the army, as the sign 
that He was with them on the march. And when 
they pitched their tents, they set up the Tabernacle 
in the midst, and worshipped Him in the beauty 
of holiness. 

As you know, the Tabernacle was afterwards 
replaced by the Temple which Solomon built. 
Houses of worship, called Synagogues, were also 
erected in many cities of Palestine. As the Jews 
came to be scattered over the world, they built 

105 



106 THE VICTORIOUS BANNER 

Synagogues in all the different lands of their exile. 
And there they still meet, Sabbath by Sabbath, to 
worship God as their fathers did. 

Our Tent of Meeting is the Church. It may be 
some great Cathedral, with its Gothic spire and 
richly stained windows, or a simple little building, 
with plain roof and walls. But if we worship the 
Lord in the beauty of holiness, we shall find it to 
be "none other than the house of God, the very 
gate of heaven." No lovelier picture of the 
Church was ever drawn than Palace Beautiful in 
The Pilgrim's Progress; and this picture was 
taken from the humble Baptist chapel where Bun- 
yan worshipped in Bedford. Another famous 
writer, Thomas Carlyle, has spoken of the rough 
thatched meeting-house in his native village as a 
true sanctuary of God, whose "pious heaven-sent 
influences" rested upon him all his life long. 

While we are still at home with our parents, we 
are taught to love and honour the Church. But 
as we grow older, we may be tempted to neglect 
it. People will tell us that we can worship God 
just as well among the woods or in the green 
fields. That may be quite true. Nature is a 
Temple of the living God. And we ought to wor- 
ship Him everywhere. But I fear those who spend 
their Sundays among the woods or in the green 
fields are not thinking much about God. They may 
begin, perhaps, with the wish to worship Him. 
But very soon they forget their wish, and so 
gradually lose the sense of worship, until they 
may be left without any thought of God in their 
hearts. 

The modern poet, James Thomson, says he felt 



THE TENT OF MEETING 107 

"Too grateful to God for His Sabbath 
To shut its hours in a Church. ' ' 

So he spent the day with his companions 

"Away in the green, green country, 
Under the open sky ; 

Where the earth's sweet breath is incense, 
And the larks sing psalms on high. ' ' 

But it was not long before the song of psalms 
was silent, and he began to picture the world as 
a city of Dreadful Night from which every ray 
of light had vanished. 

"In the endless nights, on my bed, where sleeplessly 

brooding I lie ; 
I burden the heavy gloom with a bitter and weary sigh : 
No hope in this worn-out world, no hope beyond the 

tomb, 
No living and loving God, but blind and stony Doom." 

A far wiser poet, Oliver Wendell Holmes, used 
to say that he had a plant in his heart, called 
Keverence, which he needed to water once a week, 
to keep it fresh and fragrant. And one wiser than 
he, our Lord Jesus Himself, went every Sabbath 
to the Synagogue. He knew much more than the 
greatest of His teachers. But He felt that God 
was in His holy place. And, as He prayed there 
with His brethren, He was drawn closer to Him, 
and closer to them. And He left the Synagogue 
quickened and strengthened to do His deeds of 
love. 

If Jesus found it needful to go to Church, we 



108 THE VICTORIOUS BANNER 

need it all the more. Indeed, it is only through 
the common worship of the Church that we can 
grow together, in grace and knowledge of God, 
"unto the full measure of the stature of Christ.' ' 
The habit of going to Church may begin as a 
duty. But it will soon become a pleasure. We 
shall look upon the hour of worship as one of 
the brightest hours of the week. We shall even 
learn to love it as Jesus did. 

"0 sweeter than the marriage-feast, 
'Tis sweeter far to me, 
To walk together to the kirk 
With a goodly company ! — 

"To walk together to the kirk, 
And all together pray, 
While each to his great Father bends, 
Old men, and babes, and loving friends, 
And youths and maidens gay. ' ' 

S. T. Coleridge. 



XXIV 

MEN OF HONOUR 

JUST before the camp was struck, Moses had a 
visit from Jethro and his son Hobab. They 
had learned of all that the Lord had done for 
him and his people, and they came to greet him 
on the way. When Moses heard they were com- 
ing, he went out to meet them. And they bowed 
to the ground, and kissed one another, and asked 
how each was. Then Moses brought them to his 
tent, and told them the full story of the deliver- 
ance from Egypt. And Jethro rejoiced and said, 
"Blessed be the Lord, who hath delivered you 
from the hand of Pharaoh and the Egyptians! 
Now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods ; 
for He hath overthrown His enemies by the pride 
of their own doings.' ' Then he built an altar, 
and offered up sacrifices to the Lord. And Aaron 
and all the elders of Israel came to join him at 
the feast. 

Next morning Moses took his seat at the gate, 
to try the cases that were brought to him for judg- 
ment. These were so many that the people 
crowded about him from sunrise till late in the 
evening. By the end of the day Moses was so 
tired that he could hardly speak. Jethro had been 
quietly watching the scene. And when it was all 
over, he came to Moses, and said, "What thou 

109 



110 THE VICTORIOUS BANNER 

doest is not good. Thou wilt certainly wear thy- 
self out, and the people along with thee, for the 
work is too heavy for thee to do alone. Now 
hearken to the counsel I give thee : and may God 
be with thee ! Choose from among all the people 
a number of able men, who fear God, men of truth, 
and such as hate bribery ; and let them judge the 
people on all occasions. And it shall be, that 
every important case they shall bring to thee ; but 
every small matter they shall decide themselves. 
In this way they shall bear the burden with thee ; 
and thou shalt be able to hold out, while the peo- 
ple also shall go away contented, everyone to his 
own home." 

Moses was only too glad to follow Jethro's 
advice. So he chose from among the people a 
number of able men, who feared God, men of truth, 
and such as hated bribery; and he made them 
rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of 
fifties, and rulers of tens. And they judged the 
people on all occasions. The hard cases they 
brought to Moses: but every small matter they 
decided themselves. Thus Moses was relieved of 
the burden of rule, while the people went home 
contented. 

We all now act on Jethro 's plan. Every city and 
village has its own magistrates, who are elected 
to office by the free choice of the people. It is a 
great honour to be thus called upon to rule. I 
trust that many of you may some day enjoy this 
honour. But if we are to be good rulers, we must 
be not only able men, but "such as fear God," 
loving truth, and hating bribery. Too many men 
accept posts of honour for the money they can 



MEN OF HONOUR 111 

get out of them. If they do not actually take 
bribes, they at least use their influence to push 
their own selfish ends. But a true man of honour 
will put conscience before gain. You remember 
Washington's fine motto: "Labour to keep alive 
in your breast that little spark of celestial fire 
called conscience." On this motto he acted in 
every position of honour he held. So he was 
trusted by the whole people. The great Duke of 
Wellington was equally sensitive to the voice of 
conscience. Once when he had the chance of win- 
ning a victory by shady means, he said, "I would 
willingly give Gwalior ten times over, or all the 
other fortresses in India, rather than risk the 
loss of our reputation for scrupulous good con- 
science. ' ' No wonder that such a man came to be 
regarded as his country's " tower of strength." 
And, thank God! we have had many others of 
the same fine metal as they — men like Pitt, and 
Peel, and Gladstone, and Lincoln, and Roosevelt, 
and Wilson — who were always true to the call of 
duty and honour. Such men have raised our name 
high in the world. And at the same time they 
have left us an example to follow after. 

But it is not only in public office that we must 
show ourselves men of honour. We should be just 
as conscientious in our business. You hear it 
said, ' ' Get on ! By honest means, if you can. But 
by any means, get on!" Advice of this kind is as 
wrong as it can be. Honesty is the only way to 
real success. When Lincoln was a young man, 
he kept a small country store. One evening he 
found that he had charged a customer a few cents 
too much. So, as soon as he had closed the store, 



118 THE VICTORIOUS BANNER 

lie put on his hat, and walked several miles to give 
back the money. It was easy to foretell that a 
young man like this would get on in life, Not 
necessarily that he should become rich ! There is 
a success that is far higher than riches, the success 
of noble deeds nobly done. This was the success 
which Lincoln won in such full measure. And it 
is a success that all of us may win. If we act 
honestly, we shall build for ourselves a character 
that will stand for ever, respected alike by God 
and man. 

* ' The man of life upright, 

Whose guileless heart is free 
From all dishonest deeds, 
Or thought of vanity ; 

"The man whose silent days 
In harmless joys are spent, 
Whom hopes cannot delude 
Nor sorrow discontent: 

"That man needs neither towers 
Nor armour for defence, 
Nor secret vaults to fly 
From thunder's violence: 

"He only can behold 

With unaffrighted eyes 
The horrors of the deep 
And terrors of the skies. 

"Thus scorning all the cares 
That fate or fortune brings, 
He makes the heaven bis book, 
His wisdom heavenly things ; 



MEN OF HONOUR 113 

: Good thoughts his only friends, 

His wealth a well-spent age, 
The earth his sober inn 

And quiet pilgrimage. ' ' 

Thomas Campion. 



XXV 

A MODEL SCOUT 

WE all know what scouts are. They are the 
eyes of an army. In the old days of Indian 
warfare they were sent into the forest to search 
for the enemy. They wonld crawl along the ground, 
or hide among the bushes, looking for footprints, 
or marks cut in the trunks of trees, or strange 
movements of the leaves. And when they had dis- 
covered where the enemy was, they would guide 
their men by some secret path through the danger 
zone. Scouting is very different now. Much of 
it is done by aeroplane. And when scouts are 
sent on foot, they go usually by night, carefully 
disguised, so as to pass unobserved through the 
enemy's ranks, and gather information about their 
trenches, their barbed-wire entanglements, their 
guns, and so on. But whether on foot or in the 
air, the first thing needful for a good scout is to 
have eyes in his head. And this is the great lesson 
that a Boy Scout learns. Wherever he goes, he 
knows how to use his eyes. 

The children of Israel were now coming to the 
most difficult part of their journey. It was a 
land of jagged rocks and deep valleys, where the 
enemy might fall upon them at any moment. So 
Moses felt he needed a scout. No doubt, the 
pillar of cloud and fire was there to show them 

114 



A MODEL SCOUT 115 

the way. But what was still needed was someone 
to guide them through the dangerous valleys, to 
select the best camping-grounds, and to warn them 
of the approach of the enemy. And the very man 
for the purpose was Hobab, the son of Jethro. 
He was familiar with every foot of the ground. He 
knew the safe paths through the valleys. He knew 
also the open plains where they could most suit- 
ably pitch their tents. And he had been trained 
from his boyhood to use his eyes in detecting the 
enemy 's trail. 

So, when Jethro was returning home, Moses 
begged that Hobab might remain with him, and 
act as a scout for the Israelites. And when Hobab 
refused, Moses urged him, saying, " Leave us not, 
I pray thee. For thou knowest where we should 
encamp in the desert. Be thou eyes for us. And 
it shall be that, whatever good the Lord shall do 
for us, the same will we do for thee. ' ' Then Hobab 
yielded to Moses' request, and guided him and his 
people through the desert. 

We, too, need scouts for the journey of life. We 
may have Jesus to lead us. Yet we need others 
to help us in the difficult places. When we are 
young, our fathers and mothers are our best 
guides. They know far more about life than we 
do. They can set us on the right lines, and help 
us over the rough and dangerous spots. If we 
follow them, we shall not go wrong. But sooner 
or later we must leave home, and strike out a 
path for ourselves. Then we must choose other 
scouts to guide us. These scouts are just the 
friends we make. Where our friends lead, we can 
hardly help following. So we must be very care- 



116 THE VICTORIOUS BANNER 

ful in our choice of friends. A good friend will 
guide us on the way to heaven ; a bad friend will 
lead us straight to sin and death. A good friend 
is one of Jesus ' scouts ; a bad friend is a scout of 
the evil one. 

But we must not be content to have good scouts 
to guide us. We should try to be scouts ourselves. 
Jesus wishes to have all our friends on His side ; 
and we must do our best to lead them to Him. 
We do not need to be always talking to them 
about Jesus. The surest way to win them is just 
to live as He would like us to live. Then we shall 
be His true scouts, and our friends will follow 
us gladly. 

David Livingstone was one of Jesus' bravest 
scouts. When he was travelling through Africa, 
he was often unable to speak the language of the 
people. But he was always able to speak the lan- 
guage of love and kindness. And by the use of 
that language he won many of them for Jesus. It 
was the same when he was with white men. Henry 
M. Stanley writes of him: "I went to Livingstone, 
as prejudiced as the biggest atheist in London. 
For months after we met, I simply found myself 
listening to him, wondering at the old man carry- 
ing out all that was said in the Bible. He preached 
no sermon to me, by word of mouth ; but each day 
of my companionship with him witnessed a ser- 
mon acted. Little by little his sympathy for others 
became contagious; my sympathy was aroused; 
seeing his piety, his gentleness, his zeal, his earn- 
estness, and how he went quietly about his busi- 
ness, I was converted by him, although he had 
not tried to do it ' ' 



A MODEL SCOUT 117 

We have now Girl Guides as well as Boy Scouts. 
A Girl Guide could have no better example to 
follow than Florence Nightingale. She was a rich 
man's daughter. She lived in a beautiful home, 
amid comforts of every kind. But she always 
loved to share her good things with her neigh- 
bours. As a young girl she used to visit the poor 
and sick near her home. She once bound up the 
wounded leg of a shepherd's dog that had been 
left to die. Then she heard the cry of the suffer- 
ing soldiers in the Crimea, and went out there with 
a little company of women like herself. Day by 
day she nursed the sick and wounded. Often at 
night she would go round the wards, with a lamp 
in her hand, to soothe the fevered brows, to speak 
a word of cheer to the weary, and to point the 
dying to the great Healer and Friend of men. So 
the house of suffering became a house of love. 
Men would kiss her very shadow on the wall. And 
her name will stand for all time high in the roll 
of those who have guided others to the light. 

"Lo ! in that house of misery 
A lady with a lamp I see 

Pass through the glimmering gloom, 
And flit from room to room. 

"And slow, as in a dream of bliss, 
The speechless sufferer turns to kiss 
Her shadow, as it falls 
Upon the darkening walls. 

"As if a door in heaven should be 
Opened and then closed suddenly, 
The vision came and went, 
The light shone and was spent. 



118 THE VICTORIOUS BANNER 

"On England's annals, through the long 
Hereafter of her speech and song, 
That light its rays shall cast 
From portals of the past. 

"A Lady with a Lamp shall stand 
In the great history of the land, 
A noble type of good, 
Heroic womanhood. ' ' 

Longfellow. 



XXVI 
AFAINTHEAKT 

THE Israelite host marched three days north- 
ward from Sinai. Then some of the rabble 
began to murmur because they had nothing to eat 
but manna. The trouble spread through all the 
ranks. And when they remembered the good 
things they enjoyed in Egypt, they sat down and 
wept, saying, "Oh, that we could have flesh to 
eat!" 

Moses was sick in heart, and cried to the Lord, 
"Where can I find flesh to give to all this people? 
And why hast Thou ill treated Thy servant in 
laying the burden of this people upon me? I am 
not able to bear the burden alone, because it is 
too heavy for me. And if Thou continue to deal 
thus with me, slay me at once, I pray Thee, that 
I may no longer look upon my misery !" 

We are surprised to hear a man like Moses give 
way to his despair. But other brave hearts have 
had their moments of weakness. The prophet 
Elijah was so afraid of Queen Jezebel that he fled 
to the desert of Sinai, and prayed the Lord to take 
away his life, for he was not better than his 
fathers. John the Baptist was led by his suffer- 
ings in prison to doubt whether Jesus was really 
the Christ. Jesus Himself, in the Garden of 
Gethsemane, fell into great agony of soul, and 

119 



120 THE VICTORIOUS BANNER 

besought His Father, if it were possible, to let 
that cup pass from Him. 

The way to conquer our weakness is to cast our 
burden upon the Lord. So Elijah and John the 
Baptist found it. So Jesus found it. So Moses 
also found it. 

No sooner had he prayed, than the Lord an- 
swered him, saying, "Is the Lord's hand short- 
ened, that He cannot help? Say thou to the 
people, 'Make yourselves ready by the morrow, 
and the Lord will give you flesh to eat, so much 
indeed that it will become loathsome to you.' " 
Moreover, He bade him choose seventy of the 
elders of Israel, and bring them before Him at 
the Tent of Meeting. Then He would put His 
spirit upon them ; and they would help him to bear 
the burden of the people. 

So it came to pass on the morrow, that the Lord 
sent a steady south wind from the sea. And there 
came up with the wind another great flight of 
quails, which fell round about the camp, for the 
space of a day's journey on either side. And the 
people gathered them all that day and the next, 
each of them at least ten omers, that is, one 
hundred bushels. And they ate their fill of the 
quails, and the rest they cured by spreading them 
out to dry in the sun. And they continued to eat 
them for one whole month, until they became as 
weary of them as they had been of the manna. 

On that same day Moses chose seventy of the 
elders of Israel, and brought them before the Lord 
at the Tent of Meeting. And the Lord put His 
spirit upon them, and they prophesied like Moses. 
And they shared with him the burden of ruling 



A FAINT HEART 121 

the people. So Moses was strengthened for his 
task. 

" Why sayest thou, Jacob, 
And speakest, Israel : 
My way is hid from the Lord, 

And my cause unminded by my God? 

"Hast thou not known, 
Hast thou not heard : 
That the Lord is an everlasting God, 
The Creator of the ends of the earth ? 

"He fainteth not, neither is weary; 
His wisdom is without measure. 
He giveth power to the faint, 

And addeth strength to the weak. 

"The young men may faint and grow weary, 
And the flower of them utterly fail : 
But they that wait on the Lord shall renew their 
strength, 
They shall mount up with wings as eagles; 

"They shall run and not be weary, 
They shall walk and not faint. ' ' 

Isaiah xl., 27-31. 






xxvn 

THE BEAVE SPIES 

THE people marched on to Kadesh, in the des- 
ert of Paran, which lay due south of Pales- 
tine. And the Lord bade Moses send men to spy- 
out the land. So Moses chose twelve men, one 
from each of the tribes, and sent them to spy out 
the land, and bring him back a report of its 
fields and vineyards, its cities and villages, its 
fortresses, and the people that dwelt in them. 
And the twelve men went up, and spied out the 
land, from the desert of Judah to Rehob, at the 
sources of the Jordan. 

At the end of forty days the men returned to 
Moses, bearing a great cluster of grapes which 
they had cut from a vineyard in the valley of 
Eshcol, near the city of Hebron. They brought 
also pomegranates and figs from Palestine. And 
they made their report, saying, "We came to the 
land whither thou sentest us, and truly it floweth 
with milk and honey. Behold ! this is some of the 
fruit of it. But the people that dwell in the land 
are strong, and the cities are fortified and very 
great. We saw also the children of Anak there ; 
and we were in our own eyes but as grasshoppers 
before them, and so were we also in their eyes. ' ' 

When the people heard this report of the land, 

122 



THE BRAVE SPIES 123 

they lifted up their voice, and wept. And they 
kept weeping all that night. And in the midst 
of their tears they poured out complaints against 
Moses and Aaron, saying, "Why is the Lord 
bringing us into this land, that we may fall by 
the sword, and have our wives and little ones made 
a prey! Would that we had died in the land of 
Egypt, or else in the desert !" And they plotted 
one with another, saying, ' ' Come, let us choose a 
leader, and return to Egypt!" 

Then two of the spies, Joshua and Caleb the 
son of Jephunneh, tried to still the clamour of 
the people, saying, "The land is an exceeding 
good land. Let us go up at once to possess it! 
For we are well able to overcome it." But the 
rest of the spies said, "We are not able to go up 
against the people of the land; for they are 
stronger than we." And Joshua and Caleb 
pressed them, saying, "If the Lord take pleasure 
in us, He will surely bring us into this land. 
Therefore rebel not against the Lord, nor be 
afraid of the people of the land. For the protec- 
tion of their gods shall be removed from them; 
and they shall be as bread to our mouths. ' ' 

We have still people among us like the ten faith- 
less spies. They would like to enter the good 
land, but are kept back by the difficulties they 
meet. At school they find their lessons too hard 
for them. When they go out to business, they 
shy at their work. So, while their comrades climb 
the ladder of success, they are left at the foot. 

There are many, also, who wish to follow Jesus, 
but are afraid of the lions in the way. Or, if they 
do follow Him, they are like Bunyan's Mr. Fear- 



124 THE VICTORIOUS BANNER 

ing, who "was dejected at every difficulty, and 
stumbled at every straw that anybody cast in his 
way." A pilgrim of this sort may crawl along to 
the Celestial city; but he will do nothing big or 
bold. 

The true man will never be afraid of difficulties. 
He will rather say, with the brave Lord Nelson, 
' ' difficulties and dangers do but increase my desire 
of attempting them. ' ' 

At the battle of Lodi, when the French were at> 
tacking the bridge, an officer said to Napoleon, 
"It is impossible that any men can force their 
way across that narrow bridge, in the face of such 
an annihilating storm of balls as must be encoun- 
tered." Napoleon at once broke in, "How? Im- 
possible! That word is not French." 

The word can as little have a place in the speech 
of those who follow Jesus. He has told us that 
with God all things are possible. So all things 
are possible for those who serve Him. 

Robert Morrison was on his way out to China., 
as the first missionary of the Gospel there. The 
captain of the ship said to him, "And so, Mr c 
Morrison, you really expect that you will make an 
impression on the idolatry of the great Chinese 
Empire?" Morrison quietly answered, "No, sir! 
but I expect God will. ' ' 

This is the faith that does great things for God 
and man, the faith that overcomes the world. 

"Somebody said that it couldn't be done, 
But he with a chuckle replied 
That 'Maybe it couldn't/ but he would be one 
Who wouldn't say so till he tried. 



THE BRAVE SPIES 125 

So he buckled right in, with a trace of a grin 
On his face : If he worried, he hid it. 

He started to sing as he tackled the thing 
That couldn't be done — and he did it." 

Edgar A. Guest. 



XXVIII 

PARDON AND PUNISHMENT 

PT*HE children of Israel refused to listen to 
* Joshua and Caleb. They even threatened to 
stone them with stones. Then the anger of the 
Lord was kindled against them, and He said to 
Moses, "How long will this people continue to 
despise me, notwithstanding all the signs which I 
have wrought among them! I will surely smite 
them with pestilence, and will cut them off from 
inheriting the land, and will raise of thee a nation 
greater and mightier than they. ,, 

Moses was deeply distressed, and prayed to 
the Lord to pardon the people. And the Lord 
hearkened to his prayer, and said, "I have par- 
doned them according to thy word. Nevertheless, 
as I live, none of them that despised me shall see 
the land which I sware unto their fathers. Only 
Joshua and Caleb shall enter into possession of 
it, because they had another spirit in them, and 
followed me with all their heart. The little ones 
also will I bring into the land. But they shall 
be wanderers in the wilderness for forty years, 
and shall bear the burden of their fathers' guilt, 
until their bodies be consumed in the wilderness. ' 9 

Then the Lord sent a deadly plague, which de- 
stroyed the spies that had brought back an evil 
report of the land. Only Joshua and Caleb were 

126 



PARDON AND PUNISHMENT 127 

left alive of the twelve. And the people mourned 
greatly. When Moses told them the words of the 
Lord, they confessed their fault, saying, "We 
have sinned.' ' And they said one to another, 
' ' Come, let us go up to the place which the Lord 
hath promised us." But Moses said, "Why should 
ye further disobey the commandment of the 
Lord? Go not up, for the Lord is not in your 
midst ; therefore your purpose cannot prosper, but 
ye shall be smitten down before your enemies, 
and shall fall by the sword. ' ' But they defied him, 
and marched against the hill country of Judah, 
though Moses refused to let the Ark of the Lord 
accompany them. And the Amalekites and the 
Canaanites came down upon them, and beat them 
back, and slew many of them. And the rest be- 
came wanderers in the wilderness. And only after 
forty years, when all the rebellious people were 
dead, did the Lord permit their children to go up 
and possess the land. 

We love to think of God as a God that pardons. 
We forget that pardon may go hand in hand with 
punishment. A father has often to punish while 
he pardons. And God also may punish while He 
pardons. 

The prodigal son was welcomed home with joy. 
His father ran to meet him, fell on his neck, and 
kissed him. He clothed him in the best robe, put 
a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet. Then 
the fatted calf was killed, and the house rang with 
music and dancing. But all the father's love 
could not give him back the substance he had 
wasted in riotous living. So forgiveness cannot 
steady the drunkard's shaken nerves, or heal the 



128 THE VICTORIOUS BANNER 

diseases that sinful pleasure brings. And it can- 
not undo the wrong we have done to others. 

A young man leads his companion into evil 
ways. He repent s, and is forgiven. But his com- 
panion still plunges on the road to ruin. At last 
he dies a sinner's death. That young man will 
never be able to forget the wrong he has done to 
his companion. The memory of it will be like a 
thorn in his conscience all his iife. It will even 
spoil his enjoyment of heaven. 

And the worst of it is, that others may surfer 
for our sins. A bad girl fills her mother's heart 
with shame. A bad boy brings his father's grey 
hairs with sorrow to the grave. A bad man leaves 
his children a terrible inheritance of grief. Truly, 
as Shakespeare says, 

"The evil that men do lives after them; 

The good is oft interred with their bones.' ' 



XXIX 
A CONSUMING FIEE 

SOME time afterwards three men, Korah, 
Dathan, and Abiram, raised a mutiny against 
Moses and Aaron, saying, "Ye take too much 
power upon you, seeing that all the people are 
holy, and the Lord is in their midst.' ' And two 
hundred and fifty of the chief men of Israel joined 
in the mutiny. When Moses heard of it, he sent 
for Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. But they re- 
fused to come, saying, "Is it a small thing that 
thou hast brought us up out of a land flowing with 
milk and honey, to slay us in the wilderness, but 
thou must needs also make thyself a prince over 
us? Too long hast thou been throwing dust in 
the eyes of this people! Therefore we will not 
come up." 

Then Moses was very wroth, and he laid the 
matter before the Lord. And the Lord said, "Bid 
the people remove themselves from about the tents 
of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram!" And they did 
so. Then Moses said to the people, "If these men 
die the common death of men, the Lord hath not 
sent me ; but if the Lord do a new thing, and the 
ground open its mouth, and swallow them up, then 
ye shall understand that these men have despised 
the Lord." And as soon as he had spoken, there 

129 



130 THE VICTORIOUS BANNER 

came a great earthquake, and the ground opened 
its mouth, and swallowed up Korah, Dathan, and 
Abiram, with their households and all that be- 
longed to them. Fire also fell from heaven, and 
consumed the two hundred and fifty men that had 
joined them. So the mutiny was stamped out. 

And awe came over the people when they saw 
the earthquake and the fire. But on the morrow 
they murmured against Moses and Aaron, saying, 
"Ye have slain the people of the Lord." And 
Moses and Aaron looked towards the Tent of 
Meeting ; and behold ! the glory of the Lord stood 
over it. And the Lord said, "Get you up from 
among this people, that I may consume them in 
a moment ! ' ' And at the word a plague broke out 
among them. Then Moses and Aaron fell upon 
their faces, and pleaded with the Lord to spare 
the people. And when they had ceased praying, 
Aaron ran Into the midst of the people, and offered 
sacrifice for them. And the anger of the Lord 
was removed, and the plague ceased. 

God no longer stamps out mutiny in this way. 
But He still sends His fire upon the earth. It 
may be the fire of war, or the fire of pain ; it may 
be the fire of a great prophet 's voice, or the quiet 
fire of conscience. Most of us dread fire in all its 
forms. But it may be turned into a mighty power 
for good. It burns, indeed, but it cleanses. It 
licks up the base metal, but it makes the sterling 
gold shine out. So when God sends His fire upon 
the earth, He wishes to purge it of all that is false 
and foul, so that truth may come to light, and 
justice, goodness, and love may reign among us. 



A CONSUMING FIRE 131 

"As gold is refined in the furnace, 

So He fines the hearts of men. 
The purge of the flame doth rid them of shame, 

When He tries the hearts of men. 
Oh, better than gold, yea, than much fine gold, 

When He tries the hearts of men, 
Are Faith, and Hope, and Truth, and Love, 
And the Wisdom that cometh from above, 

When He tries the hearts of men. ' ' 

John Oxenham. 



XXX 

THE GRAVES OF A HOUSEHOLD 

MOSES liad many a trouble to bear during the 
forty years of wandering in the wilderness. 
But he was bravely supported by Miriam and 
Aaron. Only once do we read of a quarrel between 
them. In all other difficulties they stood by him, 
helping him with their counsel and encouragement. 
But the time came when their loyalty was to be 
quenched in death. 

The forty years were almost over, and the chil- 
dren of Israel had returned to Kadesh. There 
Miriam fell sick. Moses and Aaron tended her 
with loving care. But she gradually grew worse, 
and died. And Moses and Aaron buried her in 
the desert of Paran. 

Soon afterwards the march to Palestine began. 
This time Moses resolved to approach it, not over 
the hill country of Judah, but by the longer route 
east of the Jordan. The nearest way led through 
the land of Edom. So Moses sent messengers to 
the king of Edom, asking permission to pass 
through his country. But he refused, saying, 
' ' Thou shalt not pass through.' ' So the people 
turned about, and journeyed through the desert 
to the south of Edom, between that land and the 
Red Sea. And in a few days they reached Mount 
Hor. 

132 



THE GRAVES OF A HOUSEHOLD 133 

Here God spoke to Moses, saying, " Aaron is 
now to be gathered to his people. Take thon him, 
and Eleazar his son, and bring them to the top of 
Mount Hor. And strip him of his garments, and 
put them upon Eleazar his son. So shall he be 
gathered to his people, and Eleazar his son shall 
be priest in his place.' ' 

Moses did as the Lord commanded. He and 
Aaron went with Eleazar to the top of Mount Hor 
in the sight of all the congregation of Israel. And 
Moses stripped Aaron of his garments, and put 
them upon Eleazar. And Aaron died and was 
buried at the top of Mount Hor. And Moses and 
Eleazar came down from the mount. And the 
children of Israel wept for Aaron thirty days. 
Then they went on their way. 

It must have been a sore grief for Moses to 
part with those he had loved so dearly. But his 
grief is common to all men. The happiest homes 
are broken up. One after another passes into the 
silent land. Often their graves are " severed far 
and wide, by mount, and stream, and sea." In 
this life we can meet no more. But Jesus has told 
us of another life, in which the Father brings to- 
gether His scattered family, to dwell with Him in 
the home of endless light and love. 

* ' No home on earth is like it, 
Or can with it compare, 
For everyone is happy, 

Nor could be happier, there.' ' 

Albert Midlane. 



XXXI 

THE SEEPENT OF BEASS 

FEOM Mount Hor the road lay through a wild 
and barren country, where they were again 
reduced to manna. The people were greatly dis- 
couraged. And they murmured against the Lord, 
and against Moses, saying, " Why have ye brought 
us up out of Egypt, to die in the wilderness ? For 
there is neither bread nor water here; and our 
soul loatheth this vile food." 

The Lord was displeased at their murmurings, 
and He sent serpents among them, which stung 
them with a fiery sting, so that many of them died. 
And they came to Moses, and said, "We have 
sinned, in that we have spoken against the Lord, 
and against thee. Intreat the Lord, therefore, 
that He may take away the serpents from us!" 

Then Moses prayed to the Lord for them. And 
the Lord said to Moses, "Make thee an image of 
one of the serpents, and set it on a pole ; and it 
shall be that, if anyone is bitten by a serpent, 
when he seeth the image, he shall recover." So 
Moses made a serpent of brass, and set it on a 
pole. And it came to pass that, if a serpent had 
bitten anyone, when he looked upon the serpent 
of brass, he recovered. 

We know how Jesus used this story. When 
Nicodemus came to Him, asking the way of eter- 

134 



THE SERPENT OF BRASS 135 

nal life, He said, "As Moses lifted up the serpent 
in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be 
lifted up, that whosoever believeth in Him should 
not perish, but have eternal life." 

The serpent of brass could only heal the wounds 
of the flesh. The Cross of Jesus heals the wounds 
of the soul. It brings us pardon and peace, free- 
dom of spirit, comfort and joy, a heart full of 
love and gratitude to God, power to overcome evil, 
and strength to do good, the presence of the Spirit 
all through our lives, and the promise of everlast- 
ing glory in heaven. 

"The Cross! it takes our guilt away; 
It holds the fainting spirit up ; 
It cheers with hope the gloomy day, 
And sweetens every bitter cup; 

"It makes the coward spirit brave, 
And nerves the feeble arm for fight; 
It takes its terror from the grave, 
And gilds the bed of death with light; 

"The balm of life, the cure of woe, 
The measure and the pledge of love, 
The sinner's refuge here below, 
The angel's theme in heaven above." 

Thomas Kelly. 



xxxn 

FIGHTS BY THE WAY 

WEARILY the children of Israel toiled 
through the desert round Edom, till they 
reached Iye-abarim, on the eastern border of 
Moab, over against the Dead Sea. There they 
encamped for a short time, and then moved to- 
wards the Sea. The first night they pitched their 
tents in the valley of the Zered, a tributary of the 
Arnon, which lay between Moab and the land of 
the Amorites. Then they crossed the steep 
ravines of the Arnon, and struck into the wilder- 
ness to the north of it. Soon they came to an 
ancient well, which Moses and the rulers of the 
people opened up with their staves. They drank 
of the refreshing water, and sang a merry song : 

1 ' Spring up, well : 

Sing in response to it — 
Well that the princes digged, 

That the rulers of the people delved, 
With their sceptres and their staves, 

A gift from the desert.' ' 

Their way now ran through the land of the 
Amorites. So Moses sent messengers to Sihon, 
king of the Amorites, saying, "Let us pass 
through thy land! We will not turn aside into 

136 



FIGHTS BY THE WAY 137 

field or vineyard : we will not drink of the water 
of the wells ; but we will go by the king's highway, 
nntil we have passed through thy territory.' ' 
Sihon would not permit them, but gathered to- 
gether his men to fight against Israel. The armies 
met at Jahaz, on the border of the land. There the 
Israelites won a decisive victory, and pursued the 
Amorites as far north as the Jabbok, and captured 
all their cities. 

Then they crossed the Jabbok, and encamped 
on the fertile plains of Bashan, just over the 
Jordan from Galilee. When Og, king of Bashan, 
heard of it, he marched down in force, and joined 
battle at Edrei, on the gorge of the Jarmuk. But 
the Lord said to Moses, ' 'Fear him not ; for I have 
delivered him and all his people into thy hand; 
and thou shalt do unto him as thou didst unto 
Sihon, king of the Amorites." So Israel fought 
with Og, king of Bashan, and smote him and all 
his people, and took possession of his land. And 
in after days they sang this song of victory : 

"Praise ye the Lord, 

For the Lord is good — 
He who smote great nations, 

And slew mighty kings : 
Sihon king of the Amorites, 

And Og king of Bashan ; 
And gave their land for an heritage, 

An heritage to Israel His people." 

You remember the fights by the way in The Pil- 
grim's Progress. When Christian is passing 
through the Valley of Humiliation, he is attacked 
by the foul friend Apollyon, and has to do battle 



138 THE VICTORIOUS BANNER 

for his life. The battle lasts for above half a day. 
Christian is wounded in his head, his hand, and 
his foot. Apollyon closes npon him, gives him a 
dreadful fall, and sends his good sword flying out 
of his hand. Christian begins to despair of his 
life. But as Apollyon is fetching his last blow, 
to make a full end of him, he catches his sword 
again, saying, "Rejoice not against me, mine 
enemy ! when I fall, I shall arise. ' ' And with that 
he gives Apollyon a deadly thrust, which makes 
him draw back. And Christian strikes at him 
again, saying, "Nay, in all things we are more 
than conquerors through Him that loved us." 
And Apollyon spreads forth his dragon wings, 
and speeds him away, so that Christian sees him 
no more. He has afterwards to fight with the 
demons in the Valley of the Shadow of Death, and 
with Giant Despair in Doubting Castle. Again 
he is driven almost to despair. But with the key 
of Promise he unlocks the gates of Doubting 
Castle, and wins his way back to the path. So 
onward he goes, from victory to victory, until he 
is welcomed to the presence of the King with 
shouting and sound of trumpet, with the ringing 
of bells and the glad voice of One that said, 
"Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." 

"We, too, have our fights by the way. We have 
to fight with evil thoughts, and temptations to 
weakness and cowardice, ill temper, selfishness, 
foul and cruel speech, hardness of heart, and dis- 
obedience to our parents and teachers. Our 
enemies are strong. Time and again we fall. But 
Jesus is stronger than our enemies. In His 
strength we shall rise like Christian, and strike 



FIGHTS BY THE WAY 139 

them a deadly blow. And each victory will help 
us "some other to win." Fighting manfully on- 
ward, we shall subdue the dark passions within, 
and the fierce foes without. And at the end we, 
too, shall enter into the presence of the King, 
complete through Him that strengthens us. 

"From strength to strength go on; 
Wrestle, and fight, and pray ; 
Tread all the powers of darkness down, 
And win the well-fought day ; 

"That, having all things done, 
And all your conflicts passed, 
Ye may o 'ercome through Christ alone, 
And stand complete at last." 

Charles Wesley. 



xxxni 

A FALSE PROPHET 

THE children of Israel were now in possession 
of all the land east of the Jordan. Moses 
divided the land between the tribes of Beuben and 
Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh. Then he led 
the people back to the plains of Moab, and en- 
camped near the fords of the Jordan, opposite 
Jericho. 

Now when Balak, king of Moab, saw the Israel- 
ites encamped in his land, he was sorely afraid, 
and sent messengers laden with rich gifts to a 
prophet of Midian, called Balaam, the son of Beor, 
saying, "Behold! there is a people come out of 
Egypt; and behold! they cover the face of the 
earth ; and they are now dwelling over against me, 
and they are too powerful for me : come, therefore, 
I pray thee, and curse this people for me! then 
perchance I may be able to overcome them, and 
drive them out of my land; for I know that he 
whom thou blessest is blessed, and he whom thou 
cursest is cursed.' 9 

This Balaam was a man through whom God 
spoke. But he loved money, even more than he 
loved the word of God. "When he saw the gifts 
in the hands of Balak 's messengers, he wished to 
go with them, and do as Balak had asked him. 
So he invited the messengers to stay with him 

140 



A FALSE PROPHET 141 

that night, and he would consult the Lord, and 
tell them in the morning what the Lord said to 
him. 

That night God came to Balaam, and said, 
"What men are these with thee?" And he told 
Him. Then God said, "Thou shalt not go with 
them; nor shalt thou curse this people: for they 
are blessed.' ' And Balaam rose up in the morn- 
ing, and went to the messengers, and said, "Get 
you back to your land ; for the Lord refuseth to 
let me go with you." So the messengers left him, 
and returned to Balak, and said, "Balaam re- 
fuseth to come with us." 

Then Balak sent more messengers, of higher 
rank than the last. And they came to Balaam, 
and said, ' ' Thus saith Balak, ' Let nothing, I pray 
thee, prevent thee from coming to me ! for I will 
show thee very great honour, and do for thee what- 
soever thou askest: come, therefore, I pray thee, 
curse me this people V " Balaam answered them, 
saying, "If Balak would give me his house full of 
silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of 
the Lord my God, to do either less or more. ' * Yet 
he was anxious to go with them, and invited them 
also to stay with him for the night, and he would 
consult the Lord again, and tell them in the morn- 
ing what new word the Lord might speak to him. 

God now saw that Balaam was determined to go 
with the messengers. So that night He came to 
him, and said, "Seeing these men have come to 
call thee, rise up, and go with them ! howbeit, thou 
shalt do only what I say unto thee. ' ' Then Balaam 
rose up in the morning, and saddled his ass, and 
went with them. 



143 THE VICTORIOUS BANNER 

Now when Balak heard that Balaam was com- 
ing, he went out to meet him at the city of Ir, on 
the border of Moab. And he brought him to a 
hill overlooking the edge of the Israelite camp. 
And Balaam bade him build seven altars, and get 
ready seven bullocks and seven rams. And he did 
so. And they offered on every altar a bullock and 
a ram. Then Balaam said to Balak, ' ■ Stand thou 
by the offerings ! and I will go higher up the hill : 
perchance the Lord will come to meet me ; then I 
will tell thee whatsoever He showeth me." And 
Balaam went to the bare top of the hill. And 
the Lord met him, and showed him a vision. Then 
He put a word in his mouth, and bade him return 
to Balak, and speak according to that word. So 
Balaam returned to Balak, and took up his par- 
able, and said : 

"Balak brought me from Edom, 

Moab 's king from the hills of the East : 
Come, said he, curse me Jacob ; 

Come, prithee, damn me Israel ! 
But how can I curse whom God hath not cursed, 

Or how can I damn whom the Lord hath not 
damned ? 
From the top of the rocks I see him, 

From the crest of the hills I behold him — ■ 
A people that dwelleth apart, 

Nor is counted as one of the nations. 
Who can measure the dust of Jacob, 

Or number the myriads of Israel ? 
Let me die the death of the righteous, 

And let my end be like his ! ' ' 

When Balak heard these words, he was filled 
with anger against Balaam, and said, "What hast 



A FALSE PROPHET 143 

thou done to me? I brought thee to curse mine 
enemies ; and behold ! thou hast done nothing but 
bless them. ' ' And Balaam answered him, saying, 
"Must I not be careful to speak that which the 
Lord putteth in my mouth V Then Balak said to 
him, "Come, I pray thee, to another place, from 
whence thou mayest see all of the people: and 
curse me them from thence ! ' ' So he took him to 
the top of Pisgah, a high mountain range from 
which he could see the whole camp. And again 
he built seven altars. And they offered on every 
altar a bullock and a ram. And Balaam bade 
Balak stand by the offerings, while he went on to 
meet the Lord. And once more the Lord met him, 
and put a word in his mouth, and bade him return 
to Balak, and speak according to that word. And 
he returned to Balak, and took up his parable, 
and said : 

"Rise up, Balak, and hear; 

Listen to me, son of Zippor : 
God is not man, to belie Him, 

Nor son of man, to change. 
Hath He said, and will not do it, 

Or spoken, and will not fulfil it 1 
Behold ! He brought me to bless, 

So I bless, and will not recall it. 
I see no ill in Jacob, 

I behold no trouble in Israel : 
For the Lord his God is with him, 

And the King's hurrah rings through him. 
Lo ! the people doth rise like a lioness, 

Like a lion he doth lift himself up ; 
Nor will couch till he eateth the prey, 

And drinketh the blood of the slain.' ' 



144 THE VICTORIOUS BANNER 

Then Balak said to Balaam, ' ' Come now, I will 
take thee to yet another place : it may please God 
that thon shonldest cnrse me them from thence.' ' 
So he took him to the top of Monnt Peor, directly 
above the plain where the camp lay. And again 
he bnilt seven altars. And they offered on every 
altar a bnllock and a ram. Bnt this time Balaam 
went no further on to seek for a vision. Seeing 
that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he cast 
his eyes upon the plain. And when he saw Israel 
encamped, each tribe in its own tents, the spirit 
of God came upon him. And he took up his par- 
able, and said : 

"Thus saith Balaam, son of Beor, 

The man whose sight is clear — 
That seeth the vision of the Almighty, 

Falling in trance, but with open eyes: 
How lovely thy tents, Jacob, 

Thy dwellings, Israel! 
As valleys that stretch afar, 

As gardens watered by rivers; 
As oaks that the Lord hath planted, 

As cedars beside the waters. 
Waters shall flow from his buckets, 

And his seed dwell by many waters. 
His king shall be mightier than Agag, 

And his kingdom exalted on high. 
Blessed be he that blesseth thee, 

And cursed he that curseth thee ! ' ' 

Balak 's anger was still more kindled against 
Balaam, and he smote his hands together, and 
said, "I called thee to curse mine enemies, and 
behold! thou hast done nothing but bless them 



A FALSE PROPHET 145 

these three times: so now flee thou back to thy 
place! I purposed to show thee very great hon- 
our, and behold ! the Lord hath kept thee back from 
honour." And Balaam said to Balak, "Did I not 
speak to the messengers thou sentest me, saying r 
'If Balak would give me his house full of silver 
and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of the 
Lord, to do either good or bad of mine own mind?' 
What the Lord speaketh, that must I speak. And 
now, behold ! I go to mine own people : but come, 
and I will show thee what this people shall do to 
thy people in the latter days. ' ' So Balaam took 
up his parable again, and said : 

"Thus saith Balaam, son of Beor, 

The man whose sight is clear — 
That heareth the words of God, 

And knoweth the knowledge of the Most High r 
I see him, but not now ; 

I behold him, but not nigh. 
There gleameth a star from Jacob, 

There riseth a sceptre from Israel. 
He shall smite the temples of Moab, 

The crown of all sons of pride. ' ' 

If Balaam had only been obedient to the heav- 
enly vision, he might have become a great prophet. 
But he still hankered after Balak's gifts. So he 
went home to Midian, and there plotted with his 
people against Israel. He not only induced many 
of them to marry Midianite women, but tempted 
them also to worship the Baal or false god of 
Peor. And the Lord was angry with His people, 
and sent a plague, which destroyed thousands of 
them. He bade Moses also take vengeance upon 



146 THE VICTORIOUS BANNER 

the Midianites for their treachery. So Moses 
armed the warriors of Israel, and led them against 
the Midianites. And they defeated them utterly, 
and slew every man in arms. And with the others 
they put their king and princes to the sword. 
' ' Balaam also, the son of Beor, they slew with the 
sword.* ' He had prayed that he might die the 
death of the righteous: he died the death of a 
traitor, 

"Be not deceived; 

God is not mocked : 
For whatsoever a man soweth, 
That shall he also reap." 

Gal. vi, 7. 



XXXIV 
A DEATH ON THE HILLTOP 

THE days of wandering in the wilderness were 
now over. Only the Jordan had to be crossed. 
Moses was by this time an old man of one hundred 
and twenty years. Yet he was as young in spirit 
as ever. "His eye was not dim, nor his natural 
force abated.' ' After all he had done for his 
people, he might have expected to lead them into 
the Promised Land. But he had once given way 
to his temper, and the Lord had said he should 
not enter the land, though he might look upon it 
with his eyes. 

So when the Midianites were defeated, the Lord 
showed Moses a mountain in Moab called Nebo, 
the highest of the Pisgah range, and said to him, 
"Get thee up into this mountain, and view the 
land which I have given to the children of Israel. 
And when thou hast seen it, thou also shalt be 
gathered to thy people, as Aaron thy brother was 
gathered. ' ' 

Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab 
to the top of Mount Nebo, and cast his eyes over 
the land. It was truly a wonderful sight that 
opened out before him. At his feet lay the Jor- 
dan, trailing its way through the jungle like a 
great serpent. Beyond it was Jericho, the city of 

147 



148 THE VICTORIOUS BANNER 

palm trees. From Jericho a road wound up the 
hill to Jerusalem, with its grim fortress standing 
out on the sky-line. All round it were the moun- 
tains of Judah, their slopes terraced by rich green 
vineyards. To the north lay the land of Samaria, 
and beyond it the valley of Jezreel, with its smiling 
meadows and corn-fields. Still further north rose 
the highlands of GaJilee, the deep blue waters of 
the Lake shining like sapphire. And away in the 
distance towered the snowy peaks of Lebanon and 
Hermon. 

As Moses gazed upon the scene, the Lord said, 
"This is the land which I sware unto Abraham, 
unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, saying, 'I will give it 
to thy seed.' I have caused thee to see it with 
thine eyes; but thou shalt not go over thither." 
So Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there in 
the land of Moab, according to the word of the 
Lord. And he was buried in a valley in the land 
of Moab, over against Beth-peor, though "no man 
knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day. ' ' And the 
children of Israel mourned for him thirty days. 



XXXV 

THE NEW LEADER 

THE Israelites were now left without their old 
and trusted leader. But a new leader was 
at hand. Joshua, the son of Nun, had been Moses' 
servant all these years. He had gone with him 
to the mount. He had fought for him against the 
Amalekites. He had been one of the two faithful 
spies, and had tried to inspire the people with his 
own fine courage. So now the Lord said to him, 
" Moses my servant is dead; arise, therefore, go 
over this Jordan, thou and all this people, unto the 
land which I do give to them. ' ' 

It was a hard task that lay before him. Pales- 
tine was a good land. But its cities were strong 
and well fortified. Their walls, too, were manned 
by the giant sons of Anak, in whose eyes the chil- 
dren of Israel felt themselves but grasshoppers. 
It needed a brave man to carry through the task. 
So the first charge the Lord gave Joshua was 
this: "Be strong, and of a good courage"; "Be 
strong and very courageous. ' * 

Above all things a soldier must have courage. 
As the old Frenchman said, "Courage, courage, 
always courage !" Without courage there is no 
hope of victory. It is the same in the good fight 
of faith. If we are to conquer, we must have 

149 



150 THE VICTORIOUS BANNER 

courage. Often it requires more courage to stand 
up against wrong-doing than to face the cannon 
and the bayonet. Many a brave soldier has gone 
down helplessly in this fight. When he is battling 
for king and country, he is bold as a lion. But 
in the battle with evil, he has no courage to hold 
out even against a comrade's jest. 

There was a young English schoolboy called 
John Coleridge Patteson. He was a fine scholar, 
a keen cricketer, a dashing football player, and a 
downright good fellow, full of frolic and fun. But 
he would put up with nothing coarse. Once at a 
cricket dinner one of the team sang a vile song. 
Patteson immediately called out, "If that does not 
stop, I shall leave the room." As no notice was 
taken, he and a few other brave lads did leave the 
room. He then sent word to the captain that, un- 
less an apology was made, he should give up his 
place on the team. The apology was made, and 
he kept his place. His friends admired his pluck 
so much that they presented him with a bat. And 
no one ever again attempted to speak or do low 
things in his presence. 

Courage like this is the stuff of which heroes 
are made. When Patteson became a man, he was 
appointed Bishop of the South Sea Islands. In 
dealing with savage warriors, he showed the same 
splendid courage as at school. More than once 
an arrow was pointed at his breast. But, we read 
in the story of his life by Miss Charlotte M. 
Yonge, "it was his custom to look the archer full 
in the face with his bright smile, and that look of 
cheery confidence and good will made the weapon 



THE NEW LEADER 151 

drop. ' ' Dangers of every kind he met in this way. 
And he died as bravely as he had lived. 

But a leader needs something more than cour- 
age. He must have knowledge. So the Lord gave 
Joshua, a further charge: "Thou shalt not neg- 
lect the Lawbook I have given thee ; but thou shalt 
ponder over it both day and night, so that thou 
mayest be careful to do according to ail that is 
written therein; for then thou shalt make thy 
way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good 
success. ' y 

To win success in anything, we must study hard. 
The soldier must study the art of war, the doctor 
the practice of medicine, the farmer the science of 
agriculture, and the business man the laws of 
trade. To be a true leader of men, we must study 
everything that touches on life. But our chief 
study should be the Bible, which is the great Book 
of Life. It teaches us what God is, and what He 
would have us to do. It tells us how good men of 
old loved Him, and how they did His will. It 
shows us how Jesus lived, and how He died for us. 
It points out to us the way of life eternal. So, if 
we wish to lead others in the right way, we must 
study the Bible as earnestly as we study the rest of 
our lessons. And we must not only study it. We 
must, like Joshua, "be careful to do according to 
all that is written therein. ' ' We must love it, and 
live by it. For only then can we make our way 
prosperous, only then can we have good success. 

With all Joshua's strength and courage, the con- 
quest of Palestine was too hard a task for him 
to face alone. So the Lord left him a final word : 
"Have not I commanded thee? Be not afraid, nor 



152 THE VICTORIOUS BANNER 

be dismayed ! For the Lord thy God is with thee 
whithersoever thou goest." 

It is a great thing for the soldier to know that 
his General is near him. At the battle of Water- 
loo, we are told, the Duke rode up to every critical 
point, and a glance of his eagle eye was worth 
an army of reserves. Even in the long line of 
modern battle the Commander is in constant touch 
with his men, cheering them on when they play the 
hero 's part, and reinforcing them if their strength 
begins to fail. 

So in the warfare of life our Leader is always 
with us. His last words to His disciples were: 
"All power is given unto me in heaven and in 
earth ; go ye, therefore, and make disciples of all 
nations: and lo! I am with you always, even to 
the end of the world. ' ' 

David Livingstone was once at a place called 
Linyanti, on the river Zambesi. Behind him lay 
the African desert, and before him the river banks 
crowded with angry natives. Death seemed to be 
staring him in the face. But he sat down and 
wrote in his Journal: "I read that Jesus came 
and said, 'I am with you always, even to the end 
of the world/ It is the word of a gentleman of 
the most sacred and strictest honour, and there is 
an end on't." Next morning he crossed the river, 
and went bravely forward to meet the danger. 
The Lord was with him, as He had promised, and 
the danger passed. But Livingstone never forgot 
the experience. With these words as his guiding 
star, he journeyed on, through cQujitless hard- 
ships, battling with cruelty, disease, and super- 



THE NEW LEADER 153 

stition, making the darkness of evil deeds flee be- 
fore him, and shedding light wherever he went. 

"Forth to the fight he fared, 
High things and great he dared, 
In his Master's might, to spread the Light, 
Right faithfully wrought he. 
He greatly loved — 
He greatly lived — 
And died right mightily. ' ' 

John Oxenham. 



XXXVI 

THE SCAELET THREAD 

JOSHUA was a brave man. But lie was cau- 
tious as well as brave. So before leading the 
people across the Jordan, he sent two men to spy 
out the land round about Jericho. And they came 
to Jericho, and went to an inn kept by a woman 
called Rahab. And they lay down to rest. 

Now it was told the king of Jericho, saying, 
" Behold! there have come here this evening cer- 
tain men of the children of Israel to spy out the 
land; and they are staying in Rahab 's house." 
So the king sent to Rahab, saying, " Bring out the 
men that have come to thee." But Rahab knew 
that the Lord was with the children of Israel. So 
she took the men, and brought them up to the flat 
roof of her house, and hid them among some stalks 
of flax she had laid out there to dry. And she told 
the king's messengers that the men had gone. 
And the messengers went in pursuit of them as 
far as the fords of the Jordan. And as they left 
the city, they shut the gate behind them. 

Then just before bed-time Rahab went up to the 
roof, and spoke to the men, saying, "I know that 
the Lord hath given you this land, and that the 
terror of you is fallen upon all the inhabitants of 
the land; for the Lord your God is the one God 
in heaven above and on earth beneath, and He hath 

154 



THE SCARLET THREAD 155 

destroyed all your enemies before you. Now, 
therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the Lord 
that, as I have dealt kindly with you, ye also will 
deal kindly with me and my father's house, to 
save our lives from death.' ' And they swore, say- 
ing, "We pledge you our lives that, when the Lord 
giveth us the land, we will deal kindly and truly 
with you." 

Now Rahab's house was built on the city wall. 
So she passed a rope through one of the outside 
windows, and let the men down by the rope. And 
she said to them, "Get you to the mountainous 
country west of the city, and hide yourselves there 
three days, till the pursuers be returned from their 
search: then ye may go your own way." And 
they thanked her, and vowed once more to keep 
their oath. And they gave her a piece of scarlet 
thread, and said to her, ' ' Behold ! when we come 
into the land, thou shalt tie this cord of scarlet 
thread to the window by which thou didst let us 
down; and thou shalt gather to thy house thy 
father, and thy mother, and thy brothers, and thy 
sisters, with all that they have: and whosoever 
shall be with thee in the house, his blood shall be 
on our head, if any hand be upon him! But if 
thou give away this business of ours, we will be 
free from the oath thou hast made us swear to 
thee." And she said, "According to your words, 
so be it ! " And the men left her, and made their 
way to the mountainous country west of the city, 
and hid there three days, till the pursuers re- 
turned from their search. And the pursuers 
sought for them all along the line of the Jordan, 
but found them not. 



156 THE VICTORIOUS BANNER 

When the three days were passed, the men rose 
up, and returned to the fords of the Jordan, and 
crossed, and came to Joshua, and told him all 
that had happened to them, and said, ' ' Truly the 
Lord hath delivered all the land into our hands, 
and all the inhabitants of the land also quake in 
terror of us." 

Then Joshua rose up early the next morning, 
and moved the camp to the banks of the Jordan. 
And they waited there three days till everything 
was ready for the passage. Then Joshua com- 
manded the bearers of the Ark to lead the way. 
Now the Lord had promised Joshua that the peo- 
ple should cross the river on dry ground. So He 
caused a great landslide to take place at Adam, 
near Zarethan, sixteen miles north of Jericho. 
And the waters of the Jordan were dammed up. 
And the people crossed the river on dry ground. 

When they were all passed over, the Lord bade 
Joshua choose twelve men, one of each tribe, to 
carry twelve stones from the bed of the Jordan, 
and set them up for a memorial on the place where 
they should lodge that night. So he chose twelve 
men, one of each tribe. And they took twelve 
stones from the bed of the Jordan, and placed 
them on their shoulders, and carried them to the 
place where they lodged that night, and set them 
up in a circle. And Joshua called the name of 
the place Gilgal, which means ' i Circle. ' ' And he 
said to the people, "When your children shall ask 
their fathers in the time to come, 'What is the 
meaning of these stones?' ye shall tell them, 
*It is that Israel oame over this Jordan on dry 
ground.' " He said also, "The Lord your God 



THE SCARLET THREAD 15T 

hath dried up the waters of the Jordan before you, 
as He dried up the waters of the Red Sea, that all 
the peoples of the earth may know how mighty is 
the hand of the Lord your God, and that they 
may fear Him for ever. ' ' 

Now as they encamped at Gilgal, the time of 
Passover came round. And the children of Israel 
celebrated the feast by eating cakes of unleavened 
bread and toasted ears of wheat grown in Pales- 
tine. And they rejoiced before the Lord with all 
their hearts. Next morning the manna ceased. 
And from that day onward they ate of the produce 
of the land. 

It came to pass about this time, that Joshua was 
walking in the fields near Jericho. And he lifted 
up his eyes, and looked, and behold ! a man stood 
facing him, with his naked sword drawn in his 
hand. And Joshua went up to him, and said, 
"Art thou for us, or for our enemies f " And he 
answered, " No ! it is as captain of the Lord 's host 
that I have now come. ' ' And Joshua saw that he 
was an angel of the Lord. So he fell upon his face 
to the earth, and worshipped, and said, "What 
speaketh my Lord unto His servant V 9 And the 
angel bade him put off his sandals from his feet, 
for the place on which he stood was holy ground. 
And Joshua did so. Then the Lord said to Joshua, 
"Behold! I have put Jericho, and its king and 
people, into thine hands. Do thou surround it,, 
therefore, with armed men. And at the sound of 
the trumpet let them all shout together. And 
when they have shouted, the walls of the city shall 
fall down flat, and the men shall rush in, every one 
straight in front of him. And the city and all that; 



158 THE VICTORIOUS BANNER 

is in it shall be devoted as a sacrifice to the Lord. ' ' 
Then Joshua went and did as the Lord had 
spoken. For seven days he surrounded the city 
with all the armed men of Israel. Then on the 
seventh day he gave the signal. And the priests 
raised a loud blast on the trumpet. And the peo- 
ple shouted with a great shout, so that the earth 
shook under it. And the walls of Jericho fell down 
flat, and the men rushed in, everyone straight in 
front of him. So they took the city, and burnt it 
with fire. And they offered up the cattle and 
goods as a sacrifice to the Lord. They slew also 
the men and women, young and old, with the edge 
of the sword. Of all the inhabitants of the city, 
they spared only Eahab and those that were with 
her in the house with the scarlet thread, according 
to the promise of the spies. And Rahab joined 
herself to the people of Israel, and married into 
their midst. So she became a mother in Israel. 
And in the fulness of time Jesus was born of her 
race. 






xxxvn 

HIDDEN EVIL 

FEOM Jericho a deep ravine cuts into the heart 
of Palestine. At the head of the pass stood 
Ai, a fortified town of some twelve thousand in- 
habitants. To win possession of Palestine, it was 
necessary first to capture Ai. So Joshua again 
sent men to spy out the land. And they went up 
the pass to Ai, and spied out the land around it. 
And they returned to Joshua, and said, "Make 
not all the people to toil up to Ai, but let about 
two or three thousand men go up and smite it, 
for the people that are in it are few." So Joshua 
sent about three thousand men against it. And 
they fought with the people of Ai, and were beaten 
before them. And there fell of them in the battle 
about thirty-six men. And the rest turned and 
fled. And the people of Ai pursued them from 
the city gate to the quarries at the foot of the 
pass. And many more of them were slain in 
the pursuit. And the hearts of the people melted, 
and became as water. 

Then Joshua rent his clothes, and put dust upon 
his head, and lay on the ground all day before the 
Lord. And he cried out, and said, "Ah, Lord 
God ! why didst Thou ever bring this people over 
Jordan ? "Would that we had been content to dwell 
on the other side! What am I to say now that 

159 



160 THE VICTORIOUS BANNER 

Israel has turned its back on its enemies? For 
the Canaanites and all the other inhabitants of 
the land will hear of it, and surround us on every 
side, and cut off our name from the earth. Then 
what wilt Thou do for Thy great name!" 

And the Lord answered Joshua, and said, "Why 
art thou fallen like this upon thy face 1 Get thee 
up ! for Israel hath sinned in taking of the devoted 
thing, and putting it among its own stuff. There- 
fore the people turn their backs before their 
enemies, because they are become accursed. Up, 
then ! consecrate the people ; and tell them there is 
a devoted thing in their midst, and they cannot 
stand against their enemies until it is removed. 
Then in the morning thou shalt cast lots : and he 
that is taken by lot shall be burned with fire, he 
and all that he hath." 

So Joshua called the people, and consecrated 
them, and told them all that the Lord had said to 
him. Then in the morning he rose up early, and 
brought the people together for the ordeal. And 
he cast lots among the tribes; and the tribe of 
Judah was taken. Then he cast lots among the 
clans of Judah; and the clan of the Zerahites was 
taken. Then he cast lots among the households of 
Zerah; and the household of Zabdi was taken. 
Then he cast lots among the men of the household 
of Zabdi; and Achan the grandson of Zabdi was 
taken. 

Then Joshua said to Achan, "My son, I pray 
thee, render glory to the Lord God of Israel ; and 
make confession of what thou hast done: hide it 
not from me ! ' 7 And Achan answered Joshua, and 
said, "Of a truth I have sinned against the Lord 



HIDDEN EVIL 161 

God of Israel, and have done thus and thus : I saw 
among the spoil a fine Babylonian mantle, and two 
hundred shekels of silver, and a bar of gold fifty- 
shekels in weight; and I coveted them, and took 
them; and behold! they are hid in the middle of 
my tent, the silver and gold lying under the 
mantle. ' ' 

So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to 
the tent, and found the spoil hid in the middle of 
it, the silver and gold lying under the mantle. 
And they took it, and brought it to Joshua. And 
he and the elders of Israel laid it before the Lord. 
Then Joshua said to Achan, "As thou hast 
brought trouble upon us, so shall the Lord this day 
bring trouble upon thee." And they led Achan 
and his household to the ravine beyond Jericho. 
And they burned them with fire. Then they raised 
a great cairn of stones over them as a witness to 
their punishment. And they called the place, The 
Valley of Achor, that is, "The Valley of Trouble," 
the name by which it is called to this day. 

Evil does not often remain hidden. Some unex- 
pected word or act will give away the secret. The 
Greek poet Ibycus was passing through a desert 
place near Corinth, when he was set upon and 
slain by a band of robbers. A flock of cranes hap- 
pened to be flying over the spot, and the dying 
poet called on them to avenge him. Soon after- 
wards the robbers were in the open theatre at 
Corinth. Suddenly the cranes appeared, and one 
of the band cried out, "Behold the avengers of 
Ibycus!" He and his companions were seized, 
and in due course condemned to death. And the 



162 THE VICTORIOUS BANNER 

cranes of Ibycus became a proverb for the finding 
out of sin. 

It is not pleasant to be found out. But there is 
something worse than that. It is when sin finds us 
out. And this is what the Bible warns us against. 
' ' Be sure your sin will find you out. ' ' 

The Greeks had a fable about the avenging 
Furies tracking the sinner like blood-hounds, 
catching him up, torturing him, dragging him ' ' to 
ruin unredeemed. ' ' So sin finds us out. It haunts 
us night and day. It will not allow us a moment 
to rest in peace. It taints the memory, stings the 
conscience, weakens the will, and plagues the body. 
Unless we can throw it off, it will dog us to death. 

Some of you have read Shakespeare's Macbeth. 
You remember how sin found out the guilty King 
and Queen. They tried to cover up the traces of 
their guilt by shedding blood and still more blood. 
But the stain of the blood could not be wiped out. 
"All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this 
little hand." Nor would the ghosts of the slain 
men leave them. They sat with them at table. 
They terrified them by dreams as they slept. A 
knock on the door smote them like the summons 
of doom. The very stones and trees seemed to 
speak to them of blood. And at last they welcomed 
death as the only means of quieting "a mind full 
of scorpions." 

The true way of escape is to make a clean breast 
of evil. Then God will pardon us for Jesus ' sake. 
We may still have to suffer for the wrong we have 
done. But we shall enjoy a wonderful peace and 
comfort of mind. We shall even be able to sing 
with the Psalmist : 



HIDDEN EVIL 163 

1 ' While I kept silence, my bones did moulder 
Through my groaning all day long ; 
For day and night Thy hand was heavy upon me: 
My sap was turned into summer drought. 

"Then I acknowledged my sin to Thee, 
And my guilt I hid no more ; 
I said, * I '11 make known to the Lord my transgression, ' 
And Thou removedst the guilt of my sin. 

"To the wicked are many sorrows; 

But he that trusts in the Lord — mercy shall compass 
him round. 
So rejoice in the Lord, and exult, ye righteous : 
And sing out for joy, all ye that are upright in 
heart I" 



XXXVIII 

STORMING A FORTRESS 

HP HE camp being purged from hidden evil, 
-*■ Joshua could renew the attack on Ai with a 
good heart. For the Lord had promised that He 
would deliver the city and all its inhabitants into 
his hand. This time he mustered his full force of 
thirty thousand men. Of these he sent a detach- 
ment of five thousand picked troops to lie in am- 
bush by night on a wooded knoll a little west of 
Ai, between that city and Bethel. He himself was 
to attack in front the next morning, and to fall 
back, so as to draw the men of Ai from their base. 
The troops in ambush were then to dash upon the 
city, and take them on the rear. Thus the men of 
Ai would be caught between two fires, and de- 
feated with ease. 

So it fell out. The five thousand men took up 
their position that night on the wooded knoll west 
of Ai, while Joshua and the rest of the troops lay 
in the valley of Achor. Then early in the morning 
he marched up the pass, and attacked Ai in front. 
When the king of Ai saw him approaching, he led 
out his army for battle. After a short skirmish, 
Joshua and his men made as if they were beaten, 
and fell back over the hilly country east of Ai. 
The men of Ai pressed on in pursuit of them, leav- 
ing the city open. Then Joshua stretched out his 

164 



STORMING A FORTRESS 165 

javelin towards Ai. The troops in ambush caught 
the signal, and at once dashed upon the city, took 
it, and set it on fire. When Joshua and his men 
saw the smoke of the city, they halted, and turned 
upon their pursuers. In an instant the troops that 
had captured Ai took them on the rear. So the 
men of Ai were hemmed in on both sides, and 
could flee neither this way nor that. And the 
Israelites cut them down where they stood. Thus 
Joshua won possession of the gateway to Pal- 
estine. 

In Bunyan's Holy War the forces of King 
Shaddai fail in their first attack on the rebellious 
city of Mansoul. But Prince Emmanuel comes in 
person to lead them, and the attack is renewed, 
the gate battered down, and the citadel won. So 
in the warfare of life we seem at times to be beaten 
back. But with Christ in command we are sure to 
conquer in the end. For God has given Him the 
kingdom. And "He must reign, till He hath put 
all enemies under His feet." 

Therefore let us fight on, strong in faith and 
hope, like: 

"One who never turned his back, but marched breast 
forward, 
Never doubted clouds would break, 
Never dreamed, though right were worsted, wrong 
would triumph, 
Held we fall to rise, are baffled to fight better, 
Sleep to wake." 

Robert Browning. 



XXXIX 
CHOPPERS OF WOOD 

ABOUT seven miles southwest of Ai, on a low 
terraced hill, stood Gibeon, another old Pal- 
estinian fortress, held by a people called Hivites. 
When the men of Gibeon heard what Joshua had 
done to Jericho and Ai, they were very much 
alarmed. But instead of fighting with the Israel- 
ites, they tried a clever trick. They got together 
some of their number and dressed them in ragged 
old clothes, and patched-up shoes. Then they gave 
them wine-skins, all cracked and torn, the holes 
tied with broken bits of string, and mouldy wallets 
filled with dry, crumbled bread. And they set 
them on asses, laden with old sacks, and sent them 
to the Israelite camp at Gilgal. 

When they arrived at Gilgal, they went to 
Joshua, and bowed down before him, and said, 
"We are thy servants: we pray thee, make a 
league with us ! ' ' And Joshua asked them, ' ' Who 
are ye? and whence come ye?" And they said, 
' ' Thy servants are come from a very far country 
because of the fame of Jehovah thy God ; for we 
have heard of all that He did in Egypt, as well as 
to Sihon, king of the Amorites, and Og, king of 
Bashan. And our elders and all the inhabitants 
of our country spake to us, saying, 'Take pro- 
visions with you, and go to meet them, and say, 

166 



CHOPPERS OF WOOD 167 

We are your servants : we pray you, make a league 
with us!' So we took provisions, and came to 
meet you. On the day we set out, we took this 
bread of ours hot out of our houses; and now, 
behold ! it is dry and crumbled. And these wine- 
skins were fresh when we filled them ; and behold ! 
they are all torn. And these clothes and shoes of 
ours were new when we put them on ; and behold ! 
they have become old by reason of the very long 
journey." 

And Joshua believed what the men had said, and 
he made a league with them. And the princes of 
Israel took a solemn oath to keep the league. But 
three days afterwards they heard that the men 
were near neighbours. And there was great anger 
in the camp, and the people wished to slay them. 
But Joshua and the princes stood between them 
and the people, saying, "We have sworn unto 
them by the Lord God of Israel ; therefore we may 
not touch them. But this we will do : we will make 
them choppers of wood and drawers of water for 
all the camp. So shall they pay for their treach- 
ery, and yet the anger of the Lord will not fall 
upon us for the oath which we sware unto them." 

The people agreed to this. So Joshua called 
the men, and asked them, "Why have ye deceived 
us, saying, i We live very far off from you, ' when 
ye dwell in our midst ? ' ' And they answered, ' * We 
did it because we were sore afraid for our lives. 
And now, behold! we are in thy power: do to us 
as it seemeth good and right to thee ! " So Joshua 
made them choppers of wood and drawers of 
water for all the camp. 

It was very menial work. But the men of 



168 THE VICTORIOUS BANNER 

Gibeon threw their heart into it. And they did 
the work so well that they were afterwards made 
servants in the Temple, whose special duty it was 
to look after the altar of the Lord. 

We sometimes chafe at lowly tasks. But many 
of our greatest men have had to put their hands 
to work as lowly as that of the Gibeonites. Both 
Lincoln and Garfield were choppers of wood and 
drawers of water in the old Log Cabin. And it 
was just because they did this work so well that 
they had the chance of doing finer work in days 
to come. "All service ranks the same with God." 
And we can make it a real service for Him if we 
do it with our might. Richard Cadbury of Bir- 
mingham used often to say, "Whatever is worth 
doing at all is worth doing well." And someone 
else has said, "If a Christian is only a shoeblack, 
he should be the best shoeblack in the city." 

A splendid story is told of an old Scottish black- 
smith. A farmer had brought him a team of 
horses to be shod. As the work went on, the far- 
mer grew impatient, and said, "That will do; that 
will do." But the brave man hammered away, 
saying, "It won't do ; I'm doing it for eternity." 

This is the spirit in which we should do all our 
work, at school or out of it. Then even the 
humblest service will be as sacred in God's sight 
as the holiest service in the Church or at the altar. 

1 ' The trivial round, the common task, 
Will furnish all we ought to ask, — 
Room to deny ourselves, a road 
To bring us daily nearer God. ' ' 

John Keble. 



XL 
THE LORD'S BATTLE 

THE strongest fortress in Palestine was 
Jerusalem. It towered up, surrounded by 
massive walls, on a precipitous rock, called Zion, 
2,400 feet above the sea. All the cities around 
owed allegiance to its king, Adoni-zedek. So when 
he heard that the men of Gibeon had made peace 
with Israel, he called out four vassal kings to 
fight against Gibeon. And they gathered together 
their forces, and marched against Gibeon, and be- 
sieged it. 

Now when the men of Gibeon saw the danger 
they were in, they sent messengers to the 
Israelite camp at Gilgal, saying, "Come up to us 
quickly, and help us ! " And Joshua mustered all 
his men, and marched out that same evening to the 
help of Gibeon. And the Lord came to him, and 
said, "Be not afraid of thine enemies! for I have 
delivered them into thy hands ; there shall not a 
man of them be able to stand against thee." 

So Joshua and his men marched on all that 
night, and reached the enemies ' camp early in the 
morning. And they fell upon them suddenly. And 
the Lord delivered them into their hands. And the 
Israelites won a great victory at the gates of 
Gibeon. And they inflicted heavy slaughter upon 

169 



170 THE VICTORIOUS BANNER 

their enemies, and pursued them down the pass 
of Beth-horon, towards the plain of the Philistines. 
And as they fled, the Lord sent down great hail 
stones, which dashed upon them, and slew more 
of them than the Israelites had slain with the 
sword. And Joshua prayed that the sun might not 
set that day till he had made a full end of them. 
And so it was. Ere the sun set, he had swept them 
right through the pass to Makkedah, in the heart 
of the Philistine plain. And there he slew the five 
kings, as they hid in a cave. And he scattered 
their forces to the winds. And those that re- 
mained alive fled for safety to the fortified cities 
in the plain. 

That night the Israelite army encamped at 
Makkedah. So complete had been the victory that 
"none moved his tongue against any of the chil- 
dren of Israel. ' ' And they sang songs of thanks- 
giving to the Lord for the help He had given them. 
Joshua also sang a song in which he boldly pic- 
tured the sun and moon standing still until the 
people had avenged themselves of their enemies. 
Then in the morning they passed on to Libnah, 
and from there to Lachish and Hebron and other 
cities that had taken part in the battle. And they 
captured all of them, and razed them to the 
ground, and slew their kings and people with the 
edge of the sword. "All these kings and their 
land did Joshua take at one time, because the Lord 
God fought for Israel. And Joshua and all the 
men of Israel returned to the camp at Gilgal." 

We sometimes think that it was only in those 
far-off days that the Lord God fought for His 
people. But He still fights on the side of justice 



THE LORD'S BATTLE 171 

and truth. Often He helps us, as He helped Israel, 
by wind and storm. When the Spanish Armada 
was bearing down on the English coast, Drake and 
his men fought a great fight for freedom. But 
it was God's hurricane that drove the enemy off 
the seas. In like manner the forces of Nature 
were continually at war with Napoleon. As he 
said himself, " Water, air, and fire, all Nature, and 
nothing but Nature, have been my enemies." And 
during the great European war God threw in these 
forces, time after time, on behalf of the Allies. 

But He helps us chiefly by inspiring us with 
faith and courage. As we all know, what counts 
most in winning battles is morale. It was by keep- 
ing up their morale that the Allies won in the end ; 
it was through the loss of their morale that the 
enemy went down to defeat. Now morale is just 
made up of faith and courage: faith in a good 
cause, and courage to fight for it. And nothing 
gives us a finer morale than trust in God. It is 
the same in the war with evil. Through the morale 
which comes of trust we shall win. For God is 
with those who put their trust in Him. And His 
good angels are about us, renewing our strength, 
and holding our courage high. 

' ' In dazzling day or blinding night 
God ne J er forgets us in the fight ; 
His glorious angels will abide 
If we but clasp them at our side : 
The hand that beckons them is Prayer, 
And Faith the clasp that holds them there.' ' 

B. R. Sill. 



XLI 

A GEEEN OLD AGE 

HPHE battle of Gibeon was followed by another 
-■■ great battle at the waters of Merom in 
Upper Galilee. Here Joshua met and defeated 
Jabin, king of Hazor, and the combined forces of 
the Northern Canaanites. The whole land of Pal- 
estine now fell to be divided between the tribes 
of Israel. And the chiefs of the different tribes 
came forward to claim their portions. Among 
these was Caleb, the son of Jephunneh. 

Forty-five years ago Caleb had gone with 
Joshua to spy out the land. He had stood by him 
against the ten faithless spies. And Moses had 
promised them both a share in the good land. So 
now Caleb drew near to Joshua, and said : 

1 ' Thou knowest what the Lord spake to Moses 
the man of God concerning me in Kadesh, when I 
was forty years old. Moses sent me from Kadesh 
to spy out the land; and I brought him back the 
word that was in mine heart. Even though my 
brethren that went up with me made the heart of 
the people melt with their ill report of the land, I 
wholly followed the Lord my God. And Moses 
sware to me on that day, saying, ' Surely the land 
on which thy foot hath trodden shall be an in- 
heritance to thee and thy children for ever, be- 
cause thou hast wholly followed the Lord.' And 

172 



A GREEN OLD AGE 173 

now, behold! the Lord hath kept me alive these 
forty-five years, as He promised, and I am this 
day eighty-five years old. Yet I am just as strong 
this day as I was on the day that Moses sent me : 
as my strength was then, so my strength is now, 
both for war and for the daily round of work. 
Therefore give me the hill country of Hebron, 
which the Lord promised me on that day. And I 
will go up and attack the sons of Anak that dwell 
there. Perchance the Lord will be with me, and I 
shall drive them out, as the Lord said I should. ' ' 

Then Joshua blessed Caleb, and gave him the 
hill country of Hebron as his inheritance. And 
Caleb mustered his clansmen, and marched against 
Hebron, and drove out the sons of Anak that dwelt 
in it, and won it for himself and his children. 
Then he pressed south to Kirjath-sepher, and took 
it, with the help of his gallant nephew Othniel, the 
son of Kenaz. And he gave Othniel his daughter 
Achsah to wife. So he made sure his inheritance 
in the land. 

It is fine to see an old man so full of youthful 
spirit. And there have been many others like 
him. We think of John Wesley, at the age of 
eighty-seven, still riding about the country, 
preaching and writing, busy with good works of 
every sort, and praying, "Lord, let me not live 
to be useless"; of Gladstone and Eainy, almost as 
old as he, and just as active, taking up the heaviest 
duties, and carrying them through with boyish 
energy; of Oliver Wendell Holmes, on his seven- 
tieth birthday, telling his friends, " To be seventy 
years young is far more cheerful and hopeful than 
to be forty years old" ; of men and women we have 



174 THE VICTORIOUS BANNER 

known ourselves, keen in mind, interested in all 
that is going on, working away at congenial tasks, 
and finding life good and joyful to the end. 

We should all like to have a green old age like 
theirs. And the secret is not far to seek. Caleb 
says he wholly followed the Lord his God. The 
word is a very expressive one. It means, he 
"filled full" or " gathered his full strength' ' to 
follow the Lord his God. Like a brave seaman, he 
crowded on all sail, and bore along after his 
Admiral, swerving neither to the right hand nor 
to the left. 

This is what kept Caleb young. And this is 
what keeps all of us young. If we wholly follow 
the Lord our God, we shall be saved from the hot 
passions and sins that sap our strength, and make 
us old before our time ; we shall be able to do our 
work with heartiness and success ; our minds will 
be kept clear and calm, free from the worries that 
kill men ; we shall be surrounded by hosts of good 
friends ; we shall find life rich in interest ; and as it 
draws to a close, we shall be filled with the glad 
hope of a still better life in the world to come. 

1 ' Grow old along with me ! 
The best is yet to be, 

The last of life, for which the first was made : 
Our times are in His hand 
Who saith, A whole I planned, 

Youth shows but half ; trust God : see all, nor be afraid ! " 

Robert Browning. 



XLII 
A GEAND FAEEWELL 

JOSHUA had now finished his task. He was 
well stricken in years, and felt he must soon 
go the way of all the earth. So he called the peo- 
ple to Shechem, and reminded them of the great 
goodness the Lord had shown them, from the day 
on which he led their father Abraham over the 
river Euphrates even until now. Then he said to 
them, ' ' And now fear the Lord, and serve Him in 
sincerity and in truth. Or if it seem evil in your 
eyes to serve the Lord, choose ye this day whom 
ye will serve : whether it be the gods your fathers 
served on the other side of the river, or the gods of 
the Amorites in whose land ye dwell ! But as for 
me and my house, we will serve the Lord." 

And the people answered and said, ' ' God forbid 
that we should forsake the Lord, to serve other 
gods ! For it was the Lord our God that brought 
us up from the land of Egypt, and kept us in all 
the way that we went, and saved us from the peo- 
ples through whose midst we passed, and drove 
from before us the Amorites that dwelt in the 
land. Therefore we also will serve the Lord ; for 
He is our God." 

Then Joshua said to them, "Ye cannot serve the 
Lord ; for He is a holy God, and a jealous God, who 
will not forgive your trespasses and sins. There- 

175 



176 THE VICTORIOUS BANNER 

fore, if ye forsake the Lord, and serve other gods, 
He will turn and destroy you, after that He hath 
done you good." And the people answered and 
said, "Nay! but we will serve the Lord." And 
Joshua said to them, "Ye are witnesses against 
yourselves that ye have chosen you the Lord, to 
serve Him. ' y And they said, ' ' We are. ' ' And he 
said, "Then put away the strange gods that are 
among you, and turn your hearts unto the Lord 
God of Israel!" And they said, "The Lord 
our God will we serve, and to His voice will we 
hearken. ' ' 

So Joshua made a covenant with the people, and 
bound them by solemn oaths. And he took a great 
stone, and set it up under an oak that stood near 
the altar at Shechem. And he said to ail the peo- 
ple, "Behold! this stone shall be for a witness 
against you, lest ye deny your God." Then he 
sent them away, everyone to his own home. 

Not long afterwards Joshua died at the age of 
one hundred and ten. He was buried at Timnath- 
serah, in the hill country of Ephraim, which was 
the portion of the land allotted to him. And the 
children of Israel continued to serve the Lord their 
God all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, 
and who knew all the work that the Lord had 
wrought for Israel through him. 

"So when a great man dies, 
For years beyond our ken, 
The light he leaves behind him lies 
Upon the paths of men." 

Longfellow. 

THE END 



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